Britain’s Naked Energy and global sustainability services and solutions provider Anthesis, today announced a partnership to drive the accessibility of leading-edge solar solutions for clean, renewable energy.
Combining the sustainability leadership and geographical reach of Anthesis with the innovative design of Naked Energy’s Virtu technology, the partnership will provide organisations with access to cost effective and ultra-compact energy alternative that generates both heat and power, with trusted deployment by Anthesis.
“We’ve taken a whole new approach to hybrid solar, which delivers the greatest financial and carbon savings for a fixed unit”
As ESG concerns move up the corporate agenda, Naked Energy helps organisations to hit sustainability targets whilst embracing financial outcomes. Its Virtu technology enables them to improve energy efficiency standards by significantly reducing on-site CO2 emissions. VirtuPVT is a high energy density solution providing combined solar heat and power and is suitable for a rooftop, ground or building façade installation. Using up to 40% less space than conventional separate PV/thermal combinations, it can achieve up to 65% better Internal Rate of Return (IRR) than a traditional combination of solar thermal and PV of a similar size.
According to co-founder and CEO of Naked Energy, Christophe Williams, “Solar PVT ‘photovoltaic/thermal’ creates the opportunity for both electricity and thermal generation in one compact unit. Virtu takes this to the next level with its unique tubular design and use of vacuum technology – which delivers the high energy density for a given area. VirtuPVT typically captures 60% of sun’s energy for heat while 20% is harnessed for electricity.
“We’ve taken a whole new approach to hybrid solar, which delivers the greatest financial and carbon savings for a fixed unit ‘says Williams. Interestingly, Williams’ entrepreneurial grandfather, Peter Blenheim Williams was a renewables pioneer of his day and developed wave technology called the ‘oscillating duck’ in the 1970’s.
“We are very excited about our new partnership with Anthesis, they too recognise that VirtuPVT has cracked the code of how to deliver the most value from less space, which is particularly important in the built environment” says Williams.
Anthesis Executive Director and Chief Sustainability Officer Paul Crewe says: “Organisations of all sizes and across geographies need to make renewable energy a business imperative. It makes sense from a sustainable perspective and a commercial perspective, with energy costs being the second highest business cost after staff. Naked Energy is at the forefront of solar technology and the opportunities ahead through this partnership, for us and our clients, are exciting.”
Naked Energy co-founder and CFO Nick Simmons is the former European Finance Director of Yahoo! Europe and Business Development Director of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. He says: “We have been very impressed by the ambition and focus of Anthesis in delivering sustainable solutions and found common ground in our shared values and ways of working. By partnering with Anthesis Group, with its global network and deep expertise across a wide range of sustainability areas, Naked Energy is taking an important leap forward in terms of scaling its operations”.
About Naked Energy
Naked Energy set out to provide clean, cost-effective energy through its innovative designs and business models. They believe that profit and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. Energy security, cost and environmental impact drive everything Naked Energy does. Energy for heating and cooling accounts for approximately 50% of global energy demand and 39% of carbon dioxide emissions. Increasing urbanisation, growing populations and economic development present unique challenges to how thermal energy is consumed and delivered.
Renewable thermal energy has received a lot less attention than renewable electricity but has an even more important role to play. That’s why Naked Energy developed VirtuPVT. They looked at everything from the end consumer’s perspective. Starting with the premise that the consumer wants to take control of their energy in terms of security of supply, cost and environmental impact. Their initial focus is on commercial and industrial.
