Start-up makes solar modules ‘smart’ with intelligent sticker

Three German start-ups have come together in a consortium led by authentic.network to make efficient solar panels ‘intelligent’ with the affixing of a sticker – an innovative symbiosis that is unique worldwide.

A sticker sporting a green tick is all it takes to turn a solar panel into a smart module. A digital twin of the system is encoded in the sticker, which delivers personalised value-added services via the customer’s smartphone – all without complicated registration and login procedures. This is made possible by the blockchain technology of Chemnitz-based start-up authentic.network. In collaboration with two other start-ups, Torwell and Syscore, and operating under the aegis of innovation incubator Q-Hub, authentic.network took charge of developing the smart technology, which offers tangible added value to homeowners with solar installations and to service companies.

On 26th May, Swiss solar module manufacturer Meyer Burger opened its new factory in Freiberg (Germany) for the production of the world’s highest-yield solar panels. The next generation of solar modules will generate as much as 20 percent more energy from the same square-meterage of roof surface – offer customers and service companies real added value by means of an app. Gunter Erfurt, CEO of Meyer Burger: “Just as intelligent multi cookers today have their own recipes and mix all the ingredients together perfectly, we concluded that it must also be possible for a solar panel to provide customers with more than just electricity. We wanted useful digital services and information delivered readily and conveniently via an app.” With the smart sticker from authentic.network, this is exactly what has been achieved.

“We create a digital twin of the solar panel in which the access data is stored,” explains Frank Theeg, Co-CEO of technology start-up authentic.network. The smartphone app with the green tick is the key by means of which the customer controls the panel via the digital twin. The app offers additional services around the solar panel, including a solar calculator, a smart search function to help end customers find an installer and an engineer access feature.

The owner of the panel can order repairs or a replacement service within a few seconds at the touch of a button. Until now, the process has been far more complicated and time-consuming: the customer has to call the installer, specify the nature of the defect, fill out a complaint form, arrange a replacement appointment, and so on… “All time-consuming things that no one likes to do because no one profits from them either,” says Theeg. “Our technology reduces this to a ‘one touch’ procedure, completed within seconds and without tiresome logins. It represents a completely new kind of service promise, and more services are due to follow.”

The new one-touch services are not only user-friendly for customers, but also attractive for manufacturers, as Frank Theeg explains: “What we have done transforms a manufacturer from a mere industrial producer to a technology partner. This generates new revenue streams and, last but not least, results in significantly higher valuations when raising capital.”

Über authentic.network

About authentic.network

www.authentic.network

The Chemnitz-based blockchain start-up has set itself the task of making the world a better place by means of a technology that enables brands to be enjoyed worldwide with transparency and trust. Innovative products are enhanced with customer-oriented value-added services using a digital twin. The areas of application range from brand protection and quality seals to medication authentication and document security. The trademark is the authentic.code green tick – forgery-proof, quick and user-friendly, encrypted with unmanipulable data and enriched with important additional information. With over one million output devices and more than one billion smartphones as potential reader devices on the global market, the innovative authentication technology is instantly applicable anywhere in the world. It is universally accessible, 10 times faster to set up and 20 times cheaper than conventional systems such as RFID codes – guaranteeing security of people, documents or products and a brand experience with added value.

About Meyer Burger Technology AG

www.meyerburger.com

Meyer Burger began producing high-performance solar cells and solar modules in 2021. Its proprietary Heterojunction/SmartWire technology enables the company to set new standards in terms of energy yield. With solar cells and modules developed in Switzerland and manufactured under sustainable conditions in Germany, Meyer Burger aims to establish itself as a leading European photovoltaic provider. The company currently employs around 600 people at research facilities in Switzerland, development and manufacturing facilities in Germany and sales locations in Europe, the USA and Asia.

Meyer Burger was founded in 1953 in Switzerland and has shaped the development of the global photovoltaic industry across the entire value chain in recent decades as a provider of production systems, setting key industry standards along the way. A large proportion of the solar modules produced worldwide today utilise technologies developed by Meyer Burger.

The registered shares of Meyer Burger Technology Ltd are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (Ticker: MBTN).

Firmenkontakt und Herausgeber der Meldung:

authentic.network
Beckerstraße 13
09120 Chemnitz
Telefon: +49 (3726) 7929190
https://authentic.network/en

Ansprechpartner:
Sascha Voigt
Co-CEO
Telefon: +493714008450
E-Mail: sascha.voigt@authentic.network
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