Hear from Business News Australia: the published article changing the game in the Solar Industry
“With commercial and industrial buildings trailing far behind the residential property sector in rooftop solar adoption, a young Melbourne company has secured funding to help unlock this largely dormant source of power generation with its business model that carries no upfront costs for tenants or landlords.
Started last year by Lloyd Heinrich and informed by his experience as the founder of The Wine Collective, MetroElectro designs, installs, and maintains solar rooftop solutions – including battery storage – for a segment of the property market where such infrastructure only exists for less than 5 per cent of buildings.
The company believes lifting the rate of adoption to the 30 per cent threshold already passed by the residential sector could meet upwards of a quarter of Australia’s electricity needs
MetroElectro’s business model helps overcome the challenge of disagreement between the landlord and tenant over who pays the upfront cost of installing rooftop solar. Instead, MetroElectro generates revenue by selling electricity to tenants and the grid, often at cheaper rates than traditional retailers as the energy is solar-generated.
The company has secured $4 million in debt from Ecotone Partners’ The Planet Fund and a further $1 million from Singapore-based Wavemaker Impact, which previously injected $1 million into MetroElectro as part of a pre-seed round in early 2024.
MetroElectro already has more than 50 projects in the near-term pipeline, totalling more than 20MW of solar and 20MWh of battery potential – enough energy to power more than 3,000 homes – with clients including Aramex, Linde Materials Handling and Bucher Municipal.
Proceeds from the latest capital will be used to fund further development of MetroElectro’s technology stack, enabling the business to access a range of revenue streams, as well as accelerate the deployment of solar and storage assets within its contracted pipeline.
With commercial and industrial buildings trailing far behind the residential property sector in rooftop solar adoption, a young Melbourne company has secured funding to help unlock this largely dormant source of power generation with its business model that carries no upfront costs for tenants or landlords.
Started last year by Lloyd Heinrich and informed by his experience as the founder of The Wine Collective, MetroElectro designs, installs, and maintains solar rooftop solutions – including battery storage – for a segment of the property market where such infrastructure only exists for less than 5 per cent of buildings.
The company believes lifting the rate of adoption to the 30 per cent threshold already passed by the residential sector could meet upwards of a quarter of Australia’s electricity needs
MetroElectro’s business model helps overcome the challenge of disagreement between the landlord and tenant over who pays the upfront cost of installing rooftop solar. Instead, MetroElectro generates revenue by selling electricity to tenants and the grid, often at cheaper rates than traditional retailers as the energy is solar-generated.
The company has secured $4 million in debt from Ecotone Partners’ The Planet Fund and a further $1 million from Singapore-based Wavemaker Impact, which previously injected $1 million into MetroElectro as part of a pre-seed round in early 2024.
MetroElectro already has more than 50 projects in the near-term pipeline, totalling more than 20MW of solar and 20MWh of battery potential – enough energy to power more than 3,000 homes – with clients including Aramex, Linde Materials Handling and Bucher Municipal.
Proceeds from the latest capital will be used to fund further development of MetroElectro’s technology stack, enabling the business to access a range of revenue streams, as well as accelerate the deployment of solar and storage assets within its contracted pipeline.
The startup's founder Lloyd Heinrich gained insight for the business while building Australia's largest marketplace for wine, where he noticed vast expanses of empty industrial roof space receiving sunlight throughout the day even though managers were under pressure to reduce costs.
Paired with the global race to integrate renewables into electricity grids, he saw a large opportunity that required an innovative new approach to unlock its full potential.
“Many climate solutions that are available have been slow to be adopted; not because the technology doesn’t work, but because of a lack of business incentive,” says The Planet Fund partner Amanda Goodman.
“These solutions scale when a novel business model comes along, which releases these pools of value. MetroElectro’s business model makes it a no-brainer for businesses with large commercial or industrial facilities to install rooftop solar and battery storage.
“Our investment in MetroElectro aligns strongly with the Planet Fund’s objective of scaling proven technology to help businesses save money and reduce emissions.”
The company intends to target an additional $3 million equity raise in early 2026.
“Commercial and industrial rooftops in Australia, Europe, and the US represent enormous untapped potential,” says Wavemaker Impact partner Marie Cheong.
“If all these rooftops were properly utilised, we could reduce carbon emissions by more than seven times Australia’s annual emissions.
“Tapping this potential is crucial for developed countries to transition their energy mix to renewables.””