Raúl Morales: Leadership, experience and talent (published in Cambio16)

Raúl Morales: Leadership, experience and talent (published in Cambio16)
For the second year in a row, Soltec is the fastest growing solar company in the European Union and the only solar tracker manufacturer on the FT1000 list. Financial TimesThe company has taken first place among solar energy companies. This ranking recognises and distinguishes innovative companies that experience rapid growth and become highly qualified and competitive operators in their respective sectors. The firm reaps the rewards of being ahead of its time by committing to new scenarios for decarbonisation through clean and renewable energies when climate change was only a vague threat that had not yet materialised in our lives.

The figures of its evolution are spectacular. With an impressive growth of 1.448%, Soltec is ranked 75th in this prestigious ranking and first in its sector. Founded in 2004 in the Murcian town of Molina de Segura, it currently has factories in Argentina, Brazil, China and Spain, and offices in Chile, Denmark, the United States, Israel, India, Italy, Mexico and Peru. It has just landed in Australia, where it is generating enormous expectations and great business opportunities.

Most of this success is due to the management of Raúl Morales (Murcia, 1970), who believed in the possibilities of the company from the very beginning. A graduate in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, with the unconditional support of his family and proven experience and technical expertise in machinery and manufacturing design, he managed to pass on his entrepreneurial passion to a team without whose work it would not have been possible to expand the company internationally.

Soltec manufactures and supplies solar tracking equipment designed and tested to withstand extreme conditions, making it the perfect solution for any type of climate. Soltec's solar trackers are self-powered, requiring no additional PV modules or grid connection. According to Raúl Morales, "our record growth in recent years is a testament to the dedication that the company's team puts into their work". Thanks to the innovation and standardisation of the solar tracker it markets, it offers a better customer experience and higher project profitability. This strategy has proven to be a success that has placed Soltec in its current leadership position.

Close to Silicon Valley, in the town of Livermore, where it has its US headquarters, Soltec has just set up a solar tracking research centre. The company is building on its experience in bifacial tracking, which stems from the manufacture in 2015 of the first photovoltaic tracker specifically designed to mount bifacial modules on a power plant. This installation provides clean energy to the La Silla astronomical observatory in Coquimbo, Chile. The California project is called the Bifacial Tracker Evaluation Center (BiTEC) and its main objective is to evaluate the influence of installation parameters such as mounting height, shading or albedo on the performance of bifacial trackers compared to the performance of fixed structures. Raúl Morales is proud that Soltec supports collaborative learning and knowledge exchange. "That is why the BiTEC project is open to other engineering and solar companies to join. In this way, these companies will not need to create their own bifacial test beds".