UK-based renewable products manufacturer Solivus has secured a global contract to supply Heliatek’s solar film to stadia and arenas.
Heliatek is a global leader in organic solar films and its product won the 2020 Innovation Award at the World Energy Summit. The environmentally-friendly solution can be fixed to glass, metal and concrete surfaces whether they are horizontal, vertical or curved, making it well suited for stadia and arenas.
Two Premier League football clubs are already in advanced discussions with Solvius chief executive Jo Parker Swift and her business partners.
Parker Swift (pictured left) said: “This presents a really exciting opportunity for us. We have been working with Heliatek for three years and already have exclusive future distribution rights for the UK and US.
“The global contract with Heliatek opens up a whole new market for us and provides Solivus with exclusive access to the UK, 37 countries across Europe and the rest of the world. This takes Solivus to another level.”
She added: “In 2019, James Bulley, chief executive of (event and venue operations company) Trivandi, joined Solivus as non-executive director. James has a wealth of experience in mega-event and stadia projects and in 2012 he was the director of London’s Olympic Park.
“This collaboration between Trivandi and Solivus is unique as Trivandi brings its knowledge and expertise in stadia and arenas and Solivus with its innovative solar film from Heliatek designed specifically for this sector. It is this formidable joining of forces that has led to us securing this global contract with Heliatek.”
In January, Guido van Tartwijk, the chief executive of Heliatek, visited the UK to meet with Bulley (pictured right). Van Tartwijk said: “We were immediately convinced about Trivandi’s dynamism and industry expertise and knew that together with Solivus, both would be able to crack this market. After this meeting things moved quickly.”
Bulley has described the technology as a “gamechanger” and added: “Stadia and arenas have been looking into renewable energy for years. If you think about long span roofs, the steelwork has to support heavy lighting, sound systems and video boards.
“The addition of traditional glass PV solar panels on the roof means that the extra steelwork required to support the weight of the panels outweighs the cost benefit of introducing solar. Also, many of the roofs are curved which works against rigid, conventional panels. The solar film still performs even when there is shading from structures above the roof surface. It does not switch off unlike traditional PV panels. This is what makes this solar film product so unique.”
Trivandi’s events portfolio includes the Rio 2016 Olympics, the NFL’s Super Bowl and the Asian and Pan American Games. Trivandi has already undertaken a comprehensive feasibility study across three venues in the UK, including two stadiums and an arena.
Bulley continued: “We are confident that we can roll it out internationally. Jo and I are looking to the UK, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and the US initially and are using Trivandi’s global networks across 22 countries to start conversations in those territories.”
Parker Swift added: “There are nearly 5000 stadia across 224 countries and that is before you factor in arenas. Some of them will be tied into conventional systems and are waiting for a payback point though they could fix our product on top of their existing installations and get an instant return. We expect to get involved at an early stage in new developments.
“Ultimately our vision extends beyond stadia and arenas and we are already in discussions with companies in the commercial warehousing sector and have installations in the residential market but we want to celebrate this huge step forward in the delivery of a ground-breaking renewable energy supply.”
