The EIC Company Partnership Programme connects Europe’s most revolutionary startups with main firms to show breakthrough applied sciences into concrete enterprise collaborations. Inside this framework, EIC-backed firm SunOyster Systems, a pioneering SME in superior photo voltaic applied sciences primarily based in Germany, partnered with Galp, Portugal’s main vitality firm. After a rigorous choice and devoted preparation, they participated within the EIC Company Day held in Lisbon on 17-18 July 2024. This engagement later resulted in a deal for the set up of light-weight PV modules, demonstrating how curated innovation matchmaking can translate immediately into real-world deployment.
Galp chosen 15 EIC-backed startups and scaleups from 11 nations to showcase their revolutionary, market-ready options aligned with the company’s strategic priorities: decreasing, avoiding, or eradicating CO₂ emissions via sustainable vitality programs. These EIC-backed startups and scaleups benefited from tailor-made preparatory assist, targeted networking alternatives, and unique one-to-one conferences with Galp decision-makers, geared toward initiating strategic partnerships and pilot tasks.
Among the many chosen EIC-backed corporations, SunOyster Programs’ light-weight photovoltaic modules handle Galp’s key problem in deploying rooftop photo voltaic throughout services. For a company like Galp, working intensive infrastructure throughout Portugal and past, this functionality is strategically important. Light-weight, adaptable modules allow scalable photo voltaic integration throughout constrained websites with out main retrofitting, decreasing complexity, downtime, and price.
The collaboration between Galp and SunOyster highlights the important steps of a well-structured Company Enterprise Technique. Amelie Krahl, Head of Gross sales at SunOyster Programs, and Ana Casaca, Director of Innovation at Galp, shared their insights about their profitable partnership.
Why SunOyster stood out: Galp’s choice journey for light-weight photo voltaic
For a lot of vitality corporations, rooftop photo voltaic is an apparent lever for decarbonisation. But in apply, massive parts of present infrastructure stay untapped. Conventional photovoltaic programs are sometimes too heavy, require roof penetration, or demand pricey structural reinforcement. Service stations, industrial buildings, and industrial rooftops regularly face load restrictions that make typical photo voltaic impractical.
SunOyster’s answer caught Galp’s consideration for its sensible alignment with Galp’s operational targets, particularly, enabling photo voltaic deployment on roofs the place conventional PV programs are constrained by load limits or set up complexity.
With devoted assist from the EIC, SunOyster ready its pitch and offered its light-weight PV modules with a glass entrance that may be bonded on to roofs with out penetration. This structural benefit made the know-how significantly interesting for load-restricted and hard-to-retrofit buildings, like service station roofs.
Galp responded positively to SunOyster’s cost-efficient and adaptable design, which led to a deeper technical analysis and the initiation of a devoted pilot. As Amelie Krahl explains: “Participation within the EIC Company Day with Galp started with cautious preparation of our presentation with nice assist by the EIC group. We offered our light-weight PV modules with a glass entrance that may be simply glued with out penetrating the roof. Galp favored the cost-efficient answer for load-restricted and different tough roofs, having arrange a gathering with SunOyster to additional assess the modules and feasibility of a pilot.”
Validating photo voltaic in the true world: The Galp–SunOyster pilot
Quite than getting into lengthy procurement cycles typical of huge corporates, Galp and SunOyster agreed on an easy pilot to validate efficiency in an actual atmosphere. The pilot comprised 24 light-weight PV modules (~9 kWp) put in on a rooftop in Lisbon with views of town’s iconic bridge. Galp is now actively monitoring energy era outcomes to tell choices about bigger rollouts. As defined by Amelie Krahl: “Negotiation of a pilot mission was simple. After the set up, Galp is at the moment evaluating the modules’ energy era. As we anticipate constructive outcomes as in our different tasks, we wish to roll out the answer to many different roofs, specifically on their fuel service stations.”
This sensible, data-driven validation strategy helped each events handle threat and set the stage for future growth.
Galp and SunOyster’s journey from pilot to wider adoption
The collaboration started with EIC’s structured assist and Galp’s curiosity about light-weight photo voltaic. The pilot in Lisbon served as a stay operational take a look at, giving Galp actual metrics on era and deployment ease. SunOyster has already launched its next-generation module, PVbondi, which affords improved yield and enhanced safety (water, UV, fireplace) to Galp, creating potential for upselling and deeper integration. As Amelie Krahl says: “We have now already offered to Galp our new premium light-weight module PVbondi. This affords additional benefits resembling elevated yield and higher water, UV radiation, and fireplace safety.”
The connection additionally opened doorways to further stakeholders past Galp, as defined by Amelie Krahl: “By means of the EIC Company Days, we have now additionally established additional good contacts, together with the Portuguese utility EDP, who’ve carried out a mission utilizing our light-weight modules. The pilot mission with Galp additionally attracted the curiosity of different events, together with some from Germany. One instance is the economic firm SKF, for whom we put in light-weight modules on a sheet steel facade at certainly one of their websites.”
Ana Casaca highlighted the worth of the EIC Company Partnership Programme and the collaboration with SunOyster: “The EIC Company Partnership Programme offers high-quality curation that permits corporates to concentrate on options with actual enterprise potential, fairly than on exploratory noise. By means of the collaboration with SunOyster, Galp is validating a light-weight PV answer for constrained environments, translating exterior innovation into concrete operational studying. This strategy helps knowledgeable enterprise choices, reduces execution threat, and contributes pragmatically to the strengthening of the European innovation ecosystem and the acceleration of the vitality transition.”
