Solmag, a tech startup that facilitates the connection between companies specializing in the installation of solar panels and future prosumers of renewable energy, enters the market with the launch of the first product in its ecosystem, a solar marketplace, and plans to attract an investment of 500,000 euros in exchange for a 5% stake in the company.
The platform offers a simple and transparent way to install photovoltaic panels and builds the largest community of prosumers in Europe. A unique element of the Solmag platform is the aggregation of electricity production in a decentralized energy cloud that adapts to the requirements of the balancing market.
The business model is simple: 2,495 euros for 100 leads. The company’s offer has an 80% discount for the first 10 installation partners who want to access the platform. The 499 euros are given in the form of credits in their account for unlocking leads.
“We are in the process of raising funding to develop Solmag and contribute to a new revolution in the field of renewable energy on the Romanian and UK market. We are looking for investors who are open to innovation and aware of the positive impact that we can have it in this industry. Our vision is ambitious and spans the long term to 2030, focusing on innovation, technology and energy to bring about significant change in the way the world manages and uses energy resources. We build applications complementary to create a safe and complete ecosystem, a solution where users will be able to manage their solar energy”, said Alex Nicoară, CEO and founder of Solmag.
The other four members of the team, one decentralized, with people active in different countries, are Olivian Savin, PhD in energy, who is COO Solmag, George Tătaru, CBDO of the company, Irina Damascan (CPO) and Ana Maria Petre (CMO Solmag).
Solmag aims to franchise the platform in 18 countries. The main purpose of the franchise is to obtain a constant income (20,000 euros/month/franchise) and to collect global prosumers.
Solmag thus aims to create a strong ecosystem for prosumers, producers and consumers, based on advanced technology. Integrated tools and solutions include a global prosumer map for a better understanding of the balancing market, artificial intelligence (AI) for process optimization and an energy management system that will have an integrated financial solution for infrastructure consolidation that will allow prosumers to monitor the energy generated. These advanced technological solutions will contribute to the efficient use of renewable energy and increase sustainability in the energy sector.
“We are a technology business that focuses 80% on development in the energy field and 20% on the Fintech industry through the development of banking technology. Our main goal in the energy plan is to become a decentralized supplier by 2027 in one of the following markets: Europe, Asia or Africa. It is too early to imagine where we have the ideal market fit. For example, players from Germany are active in Bangladesh, and those from America have found their market fit in Vietnam. It seems that P2P energy trading is easier in underdeveloped countries”, added Alex Nicoară.
“As elements that make up the ecosystem, we plan to build the following: solar marketplace (engine of the network) – 100% functional, map of global prosumers (center of the network) – MPV – 80% functional, we are still working on the data security part and the legal part , the energy flow monitoring application using AI (geometrical deep learning – waze model) and blockchain to optimize energy transfer routes, the decentralized energy cloud.
We have mapped almost 100,000 prosumers which add up to a power of 1.1 GWH. Romania’s consumption is approximately 7 GWH. Prosumers ended up producing almost 15%. The power of a nuclear reactor at Cernavodă is 700 MWH.”
According to Solmag, in the second quarter of 2024, it will be impossible to connect the new prosumers to the network, context for phase 2 of the project, namely solving intermittency in the network. Thus, Solmag identifies the points in the network where it makes sense to connect several prosumers and thus allows them access to a micro-grid. The company will provide the financing solution through crowdfunding (for example: 300,000 euro project for 25 prosumers, batteries and supplementing the distribution network).
At the same time, for the map component, Solmag will build a microgrid potential calculator and collect data globally. Access to the map costs €890/month and €4,990/year, in the MVP version.
At European level there are over 4 million prosumers, and growth is projected at 1,000% by 2030. From 2026, the focus will totally shift to energy storage in computing power and batteries.