A Pioneer in Clean Energy: Andy Klump, Founder of CEA

June 11, 2019

Prior to visiting Clean Energy Associates, I encountered a list of core values on its website, including words like family, friendliness, and innovation. Walking into the company felt exactly like what I expected — the energy of the room definitely matched that of the core values as founder and CEO, Andy Klump, warmly greeted our student group.

Mr. Klump introduced our group with a brief history behind his company. Before founding Clean Energy Associates in 2008, Mr. Klump was Vice President of Trina Solar Business Development, where he developed a large skillset as a businessman. His experience in the solar industry allowed him to quickly notice a huge change in pricing trends from $4/W in 2006 to less than $0.30/W 2018, which further led him to recognize the need for quality oversight during technology production. Ultimately, this trend compelled Mr. Klump to found an innovative advising company, Clean Energy Associates (CEA), headquartered in Shanghai, China, one of the largest global leaders of solar energy and storage development.

Mr. Klump put large emphasis on the fact that the advisory work of CEA is a key component to the success of the renewable energy market. The following sections of this article will outline the strategies, services, and technologies that Clean Energy Associates specifically employs in order to secure a greener future.

 

About CEA & Services

Clean Energy Associates is a North American-owned solar PV and battery storage assurance, supply chain management and engineering services advisory firm. It serves the needs of project developers, independent power producers, engineering, procurement, and construction firms in order to mitigate technical and financial risk when dealing with renewable energy installation internationally (Clean Energy Associates, 2008).

There are four pillars that CEA includes in their solar and storage services:

1. Quality Assurance: This deals with audits at every level of the manufacturing process, from production to shipment.
2. Supply Chain Management: This includes determining bankable procurement plans and supplier negotiations for clients.
3. Engineering: These services deal more specifically with technical aspects of solar and storage. Performance analyses, energy yield assessments, and battery storage modeling are some of the tests that help ensure the efficiency and reliability of technology being used.
4. Market Intelligence: CEA is famous for their Supplier Benchmarking Program, which is an integral strategy for determining the long-term viability of technology being used (Clean Energy Associates, 2008). The main mission of CEA, as explained by Mr. Klump, is to become a leading global solar and storage engineering services company by providing quality testing prior to technology installation.

 

The Future of CEA

CEA has already shown lots of promise in the future of renewable energy, as seen in its growth in value of over $5 billion worldwide, completion of projects amounting to over 35 GW, and involvement with 16 GW of PV projects located in over 50 countries. CEA is continuing to expand to countries across the globe, reaching even non-traditional markets like Latin America, Australia, and India. Mr. Klump stated that much of CEA’s prominence in the clean technology market is because the company recognizes the growth potentials of these non-traditional markets, as well as the need for developing countries to leapfrog into renewable-driven societies and economies. He said, “There is a unique thing about solar — you can put them just about anywhere.”

In addition to sharing about the history of CEA, Mr. Klump gave us insight into his own story navigating his way to starting a business in China. Not only has strategic planning and data-driven decisions led to the growth of CEA, but the stamina, strength, and determination of Mr. Klump and his team to meet professional goals has allowed for maximum efficiency and productivity. Perhaps — a valuable lesson learned from Mr. Klump is that we must employ our grit, passion, and concern for the world in order to pioneer a greener global economy.

 

Concluding Thoughts

By speaking to Mr. Klump and participating in his Q&A session, we gained a better understanding on the future of solar and storage technology, the need for maintaining consistent quality value, and technology’s massive role in creating a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable environment for all people. The ideas expressed in this meeting only forced us to ponder the bigger picture — how will clean technology evolve in the next decade? What does the growth of renewable energy mean for social, economic, and environmental equity? How can the Chinese economic approach to renewables be transferred to North American practice? What strategies involving clean technology must we employ in order to fight climate change on a global scale? There is no knowing how we will answer these questions, but one thing is for certain – the future is in our hands.

 

Learn more here:

1. CEA main website: http://www.cleanenergyassociates.com/
2. Company narrative by CEO of CEA, Andy Klump: https://vimeo.com/250440486
3. Andy Klump on China, Trina, Quality and Personal Growth: https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/120
4. List of projects completed: http://www.cea3.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/CEA_Statement-of-Qualifications_ES-Focused_0 1-19-2018.pdf
5. Andy Klump LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/andy-klump-ceo-clean-energy-associates-speaks-china-trina-andy-kl ump/
6. Revenue and market info: https://www.zoominfo.com/c/clean-energy-associates-limited/347609030
7. CEA in the news: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/05/14/how-cold-solder-joints-turn-solar-modules-into-warranty- cases/

About the Author

Brianna Chan

May 27, 2019