With photovoltaics for the street in the “Löhen cave”

Solmove's business idea: With smart solar modules that are installed on road surfaces, cycle paths, parking lots and other sealed areas, not only can solar power be generated, but other intelligent functions can also be implemented for the transport infrastructure of tomorrow.

Solmove wins the VisionAward 2020 and ventures into the “den of the lions”

The Berlin startup company Solmove GmbH received the Vision-Award 2020. In Munich, founder Donald Müller-Judeex received the coveted trophy from Ulrich Clef. "We need brave people and clever ideas if we want to create the energy transition," the initiator of the Vision-Award praised the inventor of smart solar road. Guest of honor Pascal Finette, owner of the Chair for Entrepreneurship & Open Innovation at the Singularity University initiated by the Google founders in Silicon Valley, spoke in his speech about the importance of disruptive developments and how to recognize them in good time. The time is crucial. If time is ripe, stable financing is needed. This also applies to Solmove for its much-awarded Smart Solar Street concept, for which a crowdinvesting campaign on the platform is currently running on the web.

With photovoltaics in the “Lion's Denem”

The appearance in the “Höhle der Löwen” (VOX) on September 28th will therefore be exciting. Solmove hopes for a successful “deal”. It can also make its concept known to a wider audience.

In the popular start-up show “Löwen cave” at VOX, seven investors are fighting for start-ups with the best business ideas. Sustainability is one of the trend topics. Again and again sustainable products and ideas are presented and pitches for the favor of investors. That is why Solmove has also applied with his Smart Solar Street concept and was invited to the current season this autumn. Now the founder Donald Müller-Judex hopes to be able to convince and persuade the lion pack with his concept in the program on September 28th ex-formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg and the other investors of the lion pack. Nico Rosberg, who is one of the lions for the first time this year, stands as much for topics such as sustainability, renewable energies and e-mobility. In view of the global climate change, he is committed to overcoming combustion engines in passenger traffic and also calls for formula 1 to switch to electric vehicles. So the ideal partner for Solmove! If there is a deal between lions and the start-ups, they not only receive financial support, but also benefit from the experience and expertise of investors.

Solmove's business idea: With smart solar modules that are installed on road surfaces, cycle paths, parking lots and other sealed areas, not only can solar power be generated, but other intelligent functions can also be implemented for the transport infrastructure of tomorrow. In the future, electric vehicles could also be charged inductively with electricity, which would give an enormous boost to the spread of electric mobility. In Germany alone, around 1,400 square kilometers of horizontal areas are suitable for solar roads, which could be used to power around 20 million electric vehicles. Existing traffic areas can be used twice - this reduces the amount of land needed to generate renewable energy in nature. With their environmentally friendly electricity generation from sunlight, Solmove solar roads are also 100% climate-neutral and thus make a substantial contribution to achieving the climate and sustainability goals of the United Nations.

Awarded the VisionAward 2020

The Smart Solar Street, whose functionality is now proven by three pilot systems in Cologne and Gelsenkirchen, has received numerous awards in recent years. The VisionAward 2020 was added just this week. Since 2006, VisionAwards have been awarded by an independent and interdisciplinary jury to companies that set the tone with an innovative and disruptive business idea. The winners of recent years now include well-known companies such as Amiando (XING Events), Brands for Friends, Green City Solutions, Betterplace, Lilium, myTaxi etc.

Due to Corona, the VisionAwards 2020 ceremony for Solmove and two other start-ups this year only took place in a small group and was broadcast online.

Jury chairman Ulrich Clef praised the technology of the Smart Solar Street and its ability to combine with other information, data and inductive charging technology. Studies on urban development and smart cities predict a radical change in the functionality of road infrastructure in the next few years. A continuing increase in traffic volumes and densely populated areas in cities and metropolitan areas, a necessary reduction in emissions and decarbonization despite increasing energy consumption, limited areas for the local production of renewable energy and the need for data exchange between (future autonomous) vehicles and the infrastructure. According to a recent study by IDTechEx from 2018, the integration of smart functionality into roads has a global market potential that will grow to up to $18 billion annually over the next 10 years. The study mentions around 100 current Smart City projects that relate to smart road surfaces. Solmove is one of the leading solution providers in this area. Further Solmove test facilities are planned soon for Kunshan near Shanghai/China and for Jülich/Germany.

Crowd investing campaign for tomorrow's transport infrastructure

Solmove's current crowdinvesting campaign, as well as any investments by the lions, serve to advance the product development of Smart Solar Street until it is ready for the market and to be able to set up series production in Germany. Crowd investing is a relatively new form of crowdfunding. In contrast to crowdfunding, the amounts collected are not donations, but rather investments. With crowd investing, private investors invest in a company and receive shares or an attractive interest rate in return.

“Solmove receives numerous inquiries about projects and we feel - not only in the media - a clear interest in our solution. We are currently working on six projects worldwide, two of them in Europe, one in the USA, one in South America, one in China and one in the Emirates. Another system will be tackled shortly, ”explains Donald Müller-Judeex, founder, CEO and inventor of the Smart Solar Street . "So we dare to grow steeply for the next few years, as soon as our product has reached its market maturity."

The company solmove GmbH, based in Berlin, has developed Smart Solar Street, an innovative, multifunctional surface for streets and other sealed surfaces. The modular system generates green electricity from solar energy, heat for de-icing, light for more safety and will enable wireless charging of cars in the future.

The advantages lie in the preservation of agricultural land, the upgrading of existing infrastructure and the opportunity for every municipality to contribute locally to the energy transition.