Sustainability is now popular. Governments are investing in a greener future. New concepts sprout like mushrooms after a rain. Green energy entrepreneurs generated a record $755 billion in investments in 2021, and this figure is only expected to rise in the near future.

Renewable energy startups

Renewable, clean, and green energy are frequently used interchangeably. they are not the same thing. Renewable energy refers to energy sources that are unlimited or replenish quickly. These are some examples:

1. Solar power.
2. Wind energy.
3. Geothermal sources.
4. Hydroelectricity.
5. Biomass (wood and plant products, solid waste, biogas, landfill gas, and such).
6. Biofuel, made from biomass (biodiesel, biogas, ethanol, and so on).
7. Tidal energy, and so forth.

So with that out of mind, here are the top renewable energy startups.

Enpal

Location: Berlin, Germany

Funding: $708.9M

Enpal is one of the fastest-growing sustainable energy startups, having seen a 4900% increase over 5 years. The company offers solar energy as a service. It produces solar cells, installs them for consumers, and maintains the panels for 20 years. Enpal is now a market leader with more than 14K completed renewable energy projects.

Enernet

Location: New York, USA

Funding: $8M

Enernet is an American firm that creates microgrids, which are tiny electric networks with their own energy sources. Wind turbines, solar panels, hydro, and other renewables are integrated into a specific site by the firm. On-site battery storage and computerised energy management technologies are replacing these power units. The startup’s goal is to supply low-cost, long-term energy to distant locations such as the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Australia.

Siqens Gmbh

Location: Munich, Germany

Funding: $2.8M

Siqens is a forward-thinking biotech firm based in Germany. It got the renowned F-cell award for hydrogen and fuel cell research in 2012. The company’s primary focus is on developing markets. There are almost 1.3 billion people who must rely on the dirtiest forms of power, such as diesel generators.

The fuel cells developed by the business employ an electrochemical process to turn methanol into energy. They are quiet, clean, and long-lasting. The cells fill quickly and use less fuel (0.3-0.6L methanol vs. 1-3L diesel). The usage of regenerating methanol saves over 70% on expenditures while also lowering GHG emissions.

Green energy startups

Green energy is a subcategory of renewable energy that originates from non-harmful natural sources. Green renewables are those that produce no pollution or greenhouse gases (GHG). As a result, wood harvested from sustainable forests is seen as renewable but not green.

Renewable Properties

Location: San Francisco, United States

Funding: $42.5M

Renewable Properties is a solar energy-focused firm. It focuses on small-scale commercial and community enterprises in the United States. The firm collaborates with solar farm developers, owners, FinTechs, and grid operators.
Renewable Properties assists clients in choosing the best location, assessing risks, negotiating power purchase agreements, and signing development contracts. The startup oversees the whole project lifespan, checks electricity output, creates reports, and maintains the solar plants. Their goal is to construct more than 100 MW of additional solar capacity per year.

Cherry Street Energy

Location: Atlanta, USA

Funding: $2.7M

Cherry Street Energy is an American firm that designs solar installations for individual customers. During peak demand, it already delivers 23% of Atlanta’s electricity supply.

Solar panel installation is completely free. The corporation analyses sites, handles legal issues, and builds and maintains power plants. The company also assists customers by offering software for Environmental, Social, and Governance reporting. By the way, for one of our Norwegian clients, we designed a similar solution – a corporate social responsibility system with an ESG module.

Ecosia

Location: Berlin, Germany

Funding: $21.4K

Ecosia is a search engine that uses ad income to plant trees. It has planted about 150 million trees in over 30 countries so far. A percentage of the company’s income are also directed towards sponsoring green energy entrepreneurs, specifically a €350 million WorldFund incubator for eco startups.

The majority of the company’s present efforts are directed on the German industry and its reliance on Russian gas. Ecosia works to alleviate the emerging European energy crisis and promote sustainability throughout the continent. One of its most notable accomplishments has been the provision of $23 million in finance to the Berlin-based firm Zolar, which connects residents with solar plant installation.

Clean energy startups

Clean energy is any energy that produces no GHG emissions. It can come from non-renewable sources (like nuclear) or affect the environment in other ways than GHG pollution (like producing radioactive waste).

Commonwealth Fusion

Location: Cambridge, USA

Funding: $2B

Commonwealth Fusion is one of the world’s most rapidly expanding fusion startups. Tokamak reactors, the leading approach to this challenge, were previously constrained by the enormous diameters of the needed magnets.

The American firm hopes to solve this challenge by leveraging recent advances in high-temperature superconductors. These materials might enable the construction of smaller and less expensive tokamak reactors. Starting with MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Centre, the firm has assembled a world-class team of engineers and scientists to provide infinite energy to worldwide customers.

Fervo Energy

Location: California, United States

Funding: $39M

Fervo Energy aims to generate renewable geothermal energy. This energy source is especially promising since it supplies energy regardless of the weather or time of day. The sector may also make use of existing capabilities from the gas and oil industries. Fervo Energy, for example, employs horizontal drilling and distributed fibre optic sensing, both of which were pioneered by big oil. This enables the organisation to have access to hitherto untapped resources, cutting energy expenses.

Kite Power Systems

Location: Glasgow, UK

Funding: $10,3M+

Wind energy is one of the cleanest sources of energy, with a total market anticipated to reach $127 billion by 2027. However, this expansion is hampered by the high cost of huge wind turbines. As a result, scores of forward-thinking energy businesses are developing designs for lighter wind turbines.

Kite Power Systems provides a market-proven system that resembles a standard kite. These kites soar to great heights in the sky, where the wind is stronger. The speed of a kite may be considerably increased by moving the string in 8-shaped patterns. This increases electricity generation to 100KW/h. The complete power plant consumes one-tenth of the materials, fits in a single truck, and can be assembled in four hours.

Solar energy startups

Solar energy is presently the world’s fastest-growing source of electricity. Hundreds of businesses are now competing for a slice of the $369 billion industry, both in hardware and software.

Oxford Photovoltaics

Location: Oxford, UK

Funding: $152.2M

The theoretical limit of traditional silicon cells used in solar panels has been reached. Oxford Photovoltaics, for example, is breaking past this barrier by employing cutting-edge photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Thin perovskite films are produced by the business and may be readily put on top of standard solar panels. These so-called tandem cells have an efficiency of 29.52%, which is already greater than the finest silicon panels, and a potential limit of 43%.

In a modest lab at the University of Oxford, the company created its first perovskite cells. In Brandenburg, the business built its first mass manufacturing line in 2021. It is presently preparing to manufacture efficient low-cost solar cells.

Utilight

Location: Yavne, Israel

Funding: $2.9M

Improving the manufacturing process can help make renewables more cheap. Utilight invented a novel 3D printing process for mass-producing solar panels. The business employs unique metallization technology to increase the efficiency of silicon panels while reducing prices and material expenditures:

1. 1. With conventional industry pastes and techniques, proprietary light-induced deposition technology improves panel efficiency by reducing shadowing effects.
   2. 3D printing utilises up to 70% less silver paste and thinner wafers, lowering cell prices dramatically.
   3. The printing method is simple to integrate into current production lines.

Inti-Tech

Location: La Reina, Chile

Funding: $2M

Dust tends to damage the surface of solar panels over time, reducing their effectiveness. When frequent cleanups are not conducted, you may lose 3% to 45% of your power. Inti-Tech, one of Latin America’s fastest-growing green energy firms, strives to address this issue.

Inti-Tech created robotic devices to clean dust from solar panels. These robots can fit into any existing panel, do not harm the cell surface, and clean without the need of water.

Lunar energy startups

To create electricity, lunar energy startups harness the power of the tides. This energy source has the potential to generate up to 100 gigatonnes of renewable energy, which is enough to power 80 million households. Here are the top startups competing for a market of $4.41 billion by 2028 (33.2% CAGR).

Ocean Renewable Power

Location: Portland, USA

Funding: $42.6M

Ocean Renewable Power is a world leader in tidal energy technology. A river or ocean coast underwater raft is its primary product. It uses several turbines to create electricity by spinning from currents.
In addition, the firm provides integrated grid solutions to individuals in undeveloped nations. Underwater turbines, electricity storage, and smart microgrids are all part of these modular complexes. A miniature submarine with onboard turbines capable of producing 4 to 600 kW of power is another intriguing proposal. This self-driving vessel will power undersea vehicles and monitoring equipment while also performing numerous robotic operations.

Minesto

Location: Västra Frölunda, Sweden

Funding: $46.4M

Minesto creates underwater kites that can produce power from sluggish currents. A tiny turbine is linked to an underwater wing in the system. The wing follows an 8-shaped route along the bottom, which is held in place by an electric cable. The spins, like ordinary kites, create speeds that are several times faster than the local currents. Higher velocity enables the wing to create hundreds of times the power of a stationary generator.

The company’s initial commercial product was a 500kW power plant that was 15 times lighter than competitors and could operate at currents as low as 1.2 m/s. Its next-generation kites will generate up to 1.2MW of renewable power.

Orbital Marine Power

Location: Kirkwall, UK

Funding: $22.2M

OMP invented the world’s most powerful tidal generator. It’s a 72-meter-long ship with enormous underwater rotors that generate electricity. The vessel’s hull is made of basic steel and can be constructed on land and carried using low-cost watercraft.

The company’s first turbine generates 2MW of energy using rapid currents in the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Its success, one hopes, will spark global interest in creating inexpensive and sustainable energy from tidal streams.

Energy storage startups

With renewables, users want a cost-effective method of storing excess energy for later consumption. Battery prices have already plummeted by over 90%, and the energy storage industry is estimated to reach $435 billion by 2030.

Solid Power

Location: Louisville, United States

Funding: $381.5B

Solid Power manufactures solid-state batteries for automobiles and cellphones. Because it contains no combustible or unstable components, it is far safer than Li-ion batteries. It also has a higher energy density and cheaper manufacturing costs. As a result, solid-state batteries are an extremely promising choice for future transportation and consumer devices. Solid Power supplies solid-state storage that beats even the finest lithium batteries on the market and is 15-35% less expensive.

RedFlow Technologies

Location: Brisbane, Australia

Funding: A$18.6B

RedFlow is the world’s leading provider of alternative storage technology. Among its offerings are the world’s smallest zinc-bromine batteries. Zinc, rather than lithium, is resistant to hostile conditions and heat without catching fire. Redflow storage is far more secure and can survive for up to ten years without losing capacity. The firm also provides modular pods for industrial users that provide scalable energy storage.

Stem

Location: Millbrae, US

Funding: $582.6B

Stem is the global leader in AI-assisted energy storage, including front-of-meter (FTM) and behind-the-meter (BTM) solutions. Its Athena system may assist customers in forecasting cost reductions, determining the ideal times to store and discharge electricity, adapting to blackouts, participating in demand response programmes, and optimizing project value during its lifespan.

Alternative energy startups

This category includes a diverse variety of businesses that generate energy in novel and unorthodox methods with the purpose of preserving the environment and natural resources.

Celtic Renewables

Location: Edinburgh, UK

Funding: $36.2M

Have you ever fantasized about running your Ford Focus on whisky byproducts? Celtic Renewables, a British startup, is responsible for making it feasible. To create sustainable biofuel, the firm collaborated with a local brewery. It employs bacterial fermentation technology to provide low-cost, low-carbon fuel for standard automobiles. Celtic Renewables has increased output 1000x since 2007, and has been designated the EU parliament’s Most Innovative Biotech SME.

New A.G.E.

Location: Marlin, US

Funding: Undisclosed

One of the most intriguing alternative energy firms is New A.G.E. It was founded in 2019 and produces clean hydrogen from coal plant waste. Hazardous elements like as sulphur, mercury, and arsenic are prevented from seeping into the environment by this method.

New A.G.E. employs electrolysis to convert coal waste into HydrocarbonPlus, a clean substance. The firm collaborates with coal facilities to assist them in transitioning to a greener economy. This collaboration has the potential to extend the life of such facilities while lowering environmental redemption expenses.

Sitigrid

Location: London, UK

Funding: Undisclosed

Sitigrid is developing a cutting-edge energy trading platform. Historically, such transactions have been routed through grid operators and other middlemen. Direct energy trading is becoming increasingly popular as more people install renewables such as solar panels.

The blockchain is used by the firm as a distributed record of local power use and output. Its Artificial Intelligence facilitates energy exchange for both consumers and producers.

Payments are done via smart contracts, which are bits of code that regulate and perform contracts. Sitigrid combines these technologies with sophisticated analytics to encourage distributed energy generation, carbon trading, and a transition towards a more local and sustainable economy.

Conclusion

Businesses and governments are investing billions of dollars in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and ESG reporting. These green energy firms demonstrate that there is a significant possibility for both hardware and software enterprises.

The border between them is becoming increasingly hazy. Even hardware-based firms will require some software development competence.