25 years of KACO new energy
A Swabian success story
A pioneer right from the start
Every journey begins with a first step. KACO took this step in 1914 when it was founded in Heilbronn by Gustav Bach, Albert Hirth and Gustav Klein. The company concentrates on the manufacture of motor seals, shaft sealing rings and electromechanical choppers, the forerunners of today's inverters. In the 1950s, KACO is the world's largest manufacturer of electromechanical choppers and produces the first thyristor inverter.
We turn passion into power
In the 1990s, KACO expands its developments in photovoltaics. This promising sector generates so much enthusiasm and inventive spirit that in 1998, with Dipl.-Ing. Ralf Hofmann at the helm, a separate limited company is established: KACO Gerätetechnik. The very next year, the company launches the world's first transformerless photovoltaic inverter.
In the 2000s, the company relocates its headquarters to Neckarsulm, changes its name to KACO new energy GmbH and establishes further subsidiaries in Europe as well as in North America, Asia and Africa. Today, the name KACO new energy is one of the best known in the inverter industry worldwide.
More milestones from the company’s history
As a specialized wholesaler, we are the link between market-leading manufacturers of photovoltaic components and our installation partners. We only include exceptionally high-quality products in our diverse stock – and we always focus on the needs of our customers. The inverters from KACO new energy ideally complement our portfolio, which is why we entered into a partnership with the company in 2022. The market launch was successful! Further expansion is planned! A trusting partnership was established within a short space of time and we look forward to continuing our collaboration in the future.
We look back with great pleasure on our long collaboration with KACO new energy as a loyal and reliable partner. Over the past few years, we have been able to achieve many milestones together and work towards a better future. We can also rely on KACO new energy's extensive and high-quality product portfolio for the future. We congratulate KACO new energy on its 25th anniversary and look forward to the next 25 years of cooperation.
For over 20 years, we have enjoyed a close partnership with KACO new energy that can’t be shaken easily. We stand by each other – in good times as well as in bad. What we particularly value about this relationship is the experience, expertise and ideal networking in the market. And we are very much looking forward to further successful projects and to making a difference together.
Our company motto is: Expanding renewable energy sources while ideally combining ecology and economy. In KACO new energy, we have had the right and, above all, reliable partner at our side for over 20 years, true to our company motto. Energy supply is undergoing radical change and with KACO new energy we will make our contribution to a better future for generations to come. We are very proud of this. With this in mind, we wish you all the best for the next 25 years and beyond, and at the same time a big thank you to the KACO new energy team for the great cooperation.
Strong and reliable partners like KACO are crucial to our success in PV expansion: on the product side, KACO inverters combine reliable technology with high efficiency. On the process side, the excellent service and short communication channels ensure uncomplicated coordination and enable solutions to be found quickly. We are also proud to be involved in the Solar-Cluster Baden-Württemberg with KACO. Together, we are driving forward the expansion of solar energy in Germany and the state of Baden-Württemberg.
Success comes to those who break new ground. KACO new energy has proven this many times since it was founded. We have been working together for over a decade now. We complement each other wonderfully as a team, as we, ebm-papst, have also been continuously setting global market standards as a technology company since our foundation in 1963. We are confident that we will continue to grow together as strong partners in the future and congratulate KACO new energy on this very special anniversary.
20 years ago, photovoltaics was still an "unpleasant appendage" to the grid. Energy suppliers predicted that it would never claim a relevant share of energy generation. Today we know: The opposite is the case. We support the grid significantly with our technologies and inverters. I am incredibly proud to have helped drive this development. I still remember very clearly when I commissioned the first inverter I was involved in developing in the former KACO building in Heilbronn on Kreuzeggerstrasse. I was sitting at the lab bench and then it happened: the disk spun backwards and our PV inverter generated electricity. That was a very impressive moment that I will never forget, and it gave me lasting motivation to continue working on the technology.
KACO new energy is more than just a job for me. I have been working for the company for as long as I can remember. I started there in 1990 as a working student, later became a development engineer and now, as CSO and CTO, I am responsible for sales and the technical areas. We started out in 1999 with a team of twelve, wanting to do something good for humanity and improve the energy supply for the world - long before photovoltaics was a business model. KACO new energy and all its employees embody this passion to this day. It drives us every moment and makes us a good team.
It's incredible how quickly 25 years go by! My wish for the future is that we will continue to enrich the PV market for at least another 25 years and remain true to our focus of offering particular benefits for our customers in the form of innovations, the best technology and outstanding quality. I am sure WE CAN!
I have a very special and, above all, personal connection to KACO, which began long before I started working for the company: My grandfather came to Germany as a guest worker and got employed by KACO. As a result, a large part of my family now lives in Germany. In addition, my wife's uncle was also an employee at KACO as head of the electrical department. And in my role at my previous company, KACO was the first customer I landed. When the PV world experienced a big boom in 2010, I finally moved to KACO new energy and joined the HR department. I am now the company’s CFO and can look back on many valuable human encounters over the last 14 years.
The takeover by Siemens opened a very exciting chapter for everyone involved. We found ourselves in a difficult time and saw the Siemens corporation as a safe haven. A lot of things have changed for the better as a result: For example, we now have flat hierarchies and the teamwork across all departments is extremely cooperative – we stand up for each other. The characters in our team fit together well. That is very important to us as management.
Over the past 25 years, KACO new energy has delivered countless megawatts to customers worldwide, founded various subsidiaries in numerous countries and achieved impressive development. I am proud to be a part of this and wish KACO new energy continued success at every level – from financial and technological aspects to human ones, as well.
25 years is an eternity in the solar industry, especially as the sector is constantly characterized by market fluctuations. Against this background, it is a great achievement that we as a German company have been on the market for so long and will hopefully continue to be so successful for the next 25 years.
Green energy is what moves us all. This is one of the reasons why KACO new energy is so close to my heart. I really enjoy working with the people here. For me, that's the greatest thing at the moment, every day anew.
