Company: Naked Energy
Founder: Christophe Williams
Website: http://www.nakedenergy.com
About Naked Energy
Naked Energy is a British design and engineering business, leading the global innovation in solar thermal and solar PVT.
Its mission is to displace fossil fuels in global commercial and industrial buildings through the deployment of its high impact, cost effective and versatile solar heat and power technologies.
The company was founded in 2013. Christophe Williams, its founder and CEO, worked in the advertising industry for many years, at one point ending up in the Guinness Book of World Records for his work.
He always held a passion for renewable energy, largely due to his grandfather, who invented the oscillating duck in the North Sea.
Christophe couldn’t believe that no-one was talking about the decarbonisation of heat – it’s responsible for roughly 50% of all global energy consumption, yet it’s often neglected in favour of electrification.
He also knew that few people recognised that we needed renewable technology that operated independently of the grid – it didn’t (and still doesn’t) have the capacity to drive net zero by itself.
Naked Energy responded by developing solar thermal collectors that are capable of decarbonising heat cost-effectively and independent of the grid.
Its VirtuPVT technology delivers up to four times the carbon savings per m2 in comparison to conventional solar PV.
The tech is so powerful that an installation on the Active Office in Swansea helped the building to become the first energy-positive building in the UK in 2018.
This year, Naked Energy’s technology was certified by TÜV Rheinland, a leading industry certification body. It was the first solar thermal collector of its kind to receive the certification, confirming it’s the best in the industry.
The business recently raised £17 million in a Series B funding round led by E.ON and Barclays, and has installed the largest solar thermal project in the UK on the roof of the British Library.
This is a game-changer for the industry and not just because it generates 216 MWh of energy annually (enough to heat a swimming pool a year) independent of the grid.
It was the only tech to get planning permission, given publicly-owned listed buildings have extra hoops to jump through. This provides a template for listed buildings across the UK to follow.
Naked Energy’s ambition isn’t limited to the UK. Its close partnership with E.ON is leading to a number of projects in Europe.
This year, the company also expanded its footprint to the US after signing a manufacturing and distribution deal with ELM Solar.
The partnership has already seen the construction of Naked Energy’s first US manufacturing plant in Dallas, Texas, and the business’s first stateside project in Creighton University, Nebraska.
The progress that Naked Energy has made this year is staggering, and with more projects soon to be delivered with the likes of the Mandarin Oriental, the business has well and truly cemented its position as a global leader in the solar thermal industry.
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