Obey Martin Manayiti

Earlier in October, the New York based firm bought a majority stake in MacLean Power Systems.

AE Industrial Partners, BlackRock, Veritas, Enlightenment and Trive are among the PE firms venturing into space.

'Given the steadily increasing cost of utilities, the economics of going solar are very compelling,' Chris Murphy said.

'It's awfully hard for those small firms to compete and so they need to join large firms to survive," said Mercer vice-chairman David Barton.

'There is significant opportunity for Axcel businesses to grow independently as well as the opportunity to build a family of businesses that are stronger together than they are apart,' Jonathan Zeidan told PE Hub.

In September, Bernhard portfolio company United Utility Services agreed to acquire BHI Power Delivery.

'We feel like the space is large enough to create multiple winners,' he said.

'We are in a moment when the adoption of electric vehicles is accelerating, and manufacturers are coming up with better models,' Munger said.

'The North American refrigeration sector, particularly in commercial coolers, saw little consolidation until recently due to limited capital,' said Ronin's David Feierstein.

LLR principal Jesse Gray gave PE Hub an exclusive interview on the deal.