Innovative ideas and the courage to turn them into your own business? This is a perfect start-up recipe. In the following category we show those of them who apply innovative solutions to support the environment.
Environmentally friendly and stylish
Collectors or solar batteries mounted on the roofs of buildings are becoming more and more popular. However, for those planning to apply this type of solution at home, there is one problem: aesthetics. Unfortunately, those devices are far from pretty and they are perfectly visible from afar.
For those who value style and elegance in addition to ecology, the solution is a system developed by Termdach. The innovative system also absorbs solar energy, but unlike traditional solar collectors or batteries, it is installed below the surface of the roof. Such system allows you to enjoy a beautiful roof and lower costs of heating your house and water.
Beneficiary: Termdach Sp. z o.o.
Project: Marketing of innovative roof heat exchangers for energy-efficient construction
Total project value: 1,06 mln PLN
EU contribution (Eastern Poland Programme): 788 885 PLN
Do not miss a single ray
A modular solar collector can be installed on all types of roofs, even on the roof of a car shelter. What makes it different from the others? It absorbs solar energy throughout the day, even when the sun is low above the horizon.
This exceptional structure invented by a start-up from the Podkarpacie region, SUNECTOR, can use the entire surface of the roof. It can also be installed in any plane. It allows for simultaneous production of heat and electricity. It is equipped with an innovative system protecting it from overheating or freezing. What is more, it allows for reduction of the costs of heating.
Beneficiary: SUNECTOR Sp. z o.o.
Project: Sunector – Production and sales of innovative hybrid solar collectors
Total project value: 1,04 mln PLN
EU contribution (Eastern Poland Programme): 799 680 PLN
A better life for fish
What do wind turbines and fish have in common? According to the Rzeszów-based start-up PTS Investments, a lot!
Ideas for innovative products often appear under unexpected circumstances. In this case, it all started with the father of the start-up’s originator, Piotr Strojny. He is the owner of fish ponds and has long been struggling with the problem of winter stuffiness. When the surface of the ponds was frozen, the fish had no chance to survive due to lack of air. Piotr’s father constructed a device that was ingenious in its simplicity: he connected a small turbine placed on the edge of a pond with an air intake device and distributed the air in the water by means of pipes. As a result, the pond did not freeze and the fish could breathe freely.
This idea was picked up by his son, who, together with his wife and friends from the university, improved the concept. The result is an unmanned system based on the technology of small wind turbines - engines that produce energy using the power of the wind. It is very efficient and environmentally friendly, as it does not require power supply. Moreover, it also uses an innovative solution based on the manner an engine slows down when the speed becomes too high. “Propeller” blades change their angle, so that the wind stops driving them and the speed decreases.
The product is currently addressed to fish pond owners, but it does not exhaust the potential of this idea or the ambitions of its authors!
Beneficiary: PTS Investments Sp. z o.o.
Project: Environmentally friendly, unmanned aeration systems for water basins
Total project value: 1,14 mln PLN
EU contribution (Eastern Poland Programme): 799 510 PLN
Cooling with water
Adiabatic cooling, a method of cooling that uses the heat of evaporation of water, was already known in ancient times. Building fountains and ponds in courtyards and patios, hanging wet curtains in windows or doors, so that the air entering the building was cooler thanks to the evaporation of water… For centuries people have used this natural phenomenon to improve their living conditions.
Obviously, times have changed, especially technology, although the essence of water cooling systems has remained unchanged.
An innovative start-up, Systemy SCA, decided to use such a system. Its creators noticed that during a heat wave, traditional air conditioning systems absorbed a lot of electricity and generated high costs. Therefore, they came up with the idea of installing adiabatic cooling systems on them in the form of innovative water screens. What are the advantages of such solution? It cuts the costs and is environmentally friendly! In addition, it can be installed on any refrigeration device (also on an already operating one!). Moreover, SCA can be connected to a cloud so as to provide the user with comprehensive data about their work.
Beneficiary: Systemy SCA Sp. z o.o.
Project: Adiabatic cooling systems
Total project value: 1,07 mln PLN
EU contribution (Eastern Poland Programme): 779 110 PLN
Wind turbines of the future
Out of all types of electricity sources, there is one in which in recent years more generation capacity have been installed in Europe than in all others combined – wind energy. Classic horizontal axis wind turbines, which each of us has seen many times, have also become part of the Polish landscape. It is a mature technology in which almost everything has been improved, with environmental effects lower than the alternatives available in the majority of areas.
Vertical axis wind turbines, i.e. spinning in the same plane as the whirlwind or toy – spinning top, have additional advantages on an industrial scale. Higher achievable efficiency, lower mortality of birds, lower noise level and lack of ice throwing characteristic of horizontal axis wind turbines. So far, these advantages have been compensated by a colossal drawback – slim, aerodynamic structures were quickly destroyed on an industrial scale due to the high variability of loads at the base of the tower shaft.
What makes the wind turbine of the Vertical Axis Wind Technologies start-up from Kielce unique is the division of the rotor into two levels with sizes specially matched to each other. The levels shifted in relation to one another cancel most of the differences in the level of loads (and their maximum values too) at critical points of the structure during operation of the turbine. They allow obtaining a slim and remarkably efficient turbine, with a life span which allows 20 years of safe operation (the maximum allowed for wind turbines).
Beneficiary: VERTICAL AXIS WIND TECHNOLOGIES Sp. z o.o.
Project: Technology of the Multi-Level Large Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Total project value: 1,05 mln PLN
EU contribution (Eastern Poland Programme): 799 510 PLN
LED technologies in gardening
How to respond to the needs of the greenhouse horticulture industry? In order for the producers to be successful, solutions are needed that would make it possible to reduce costs on the one hand, and to ensure the safety of the plants on the other hand. LED technologies can turn out useful in this respect.
This was the solution found by Jacek, Rafał and Jakub Lachowski, a father and two sons, when they started their family-owned start-up Plantalux in Lubelskie Voivodeship. They developed and successfully launched an innovative product: various types of LED lamps designed to illuminate plants in greenhouses. They are very efficient – almost all electrical energy is converted into light absorbed by plants. Moreover, its intensity can be adjusted to respective phases of their growth.
However, it is not all. The lamps are equipped with a number of sensors that monitor the growing conditions: moisture, temperature, sunshine. In addition, they cooperate with a cutting edge application that allows you to choose the best light intensity. All this to save electricity and.... labour!
LED technology allows for reducing energy consumption 4 times
Beneficiary: Plantalux Sp. z o.o.
Project: Plantalux – professional COB LED luminaires to illuminate plants together with a control application
Total project value: 1,1 mln PLN
EU contribution (Eastern Poland Programme): 793 560 PLN
Green energy in greenhouses
It is very difficult to produce green energy for own use in greenhouses. It is usually limited by the small area available for cultivation. Therefore, producers usually use solar batteries mounted on the roof of greenhouses. Unfortunately, this places a great strain on greenhouses and shades them, which slows down the process of plant growth.
Aquila found a way to solve this problem. They decided to use semi-transparent, modern photovoltaic BIPV panels (with a transparency of 60%). When installed on greenhouse roofs, they would allow for solar energy absorption without affecting plant growth, and additionally protect the greenhouse against heat loss.
Beneficiary: Aquila Sp. z o.o.
Project: Use of BIPV panels in plant production
Total project value: 179 543,48 PLN
EU contribution (Smart Growth Programme): 179 543,48 PLN
Nothing is wasted in metalworks
The process of metal production in metalworks generates hundreds of thousands of tons of waste per year. Its storage is becoming an increasingly serious problem for the manufacturers.
Bio Steel, based in Krakow, found a solution to this problem. It consists in the processing of metallurgical waste. A modern pyrometallurgical process would allow to obtain a valuable iron-rich granulate. According to the authors of this technology, this material could then be used for the production of steel in metallurgical processes.
It would be cheaper and more environmentally friendly. In addition, post-industrial sites where waste is currently stored will be able to become green again.
Beneficiary: Bio Steel
Project: Iron and zinc recovery from metallurgical waste
Total project value: 177 146,83 PLN
EU contribution (Smart Growth Programme): 177 146,83 PLN
Software for savings
Software that would forecast the amount of electricity consumed and monitor those indicators on a regular basis? What is more, it would automatically select the most advantageous tariff and create a simulation of costs? Sounds like a fairy tale, but it is not one. This is a description of a product created by a Suwałki-based start-up Prognosis.
The software is addressed to large, small and medium-sized enterprises. It enables effective control over power consumption and identification of the most energy-intensive areas. This is the first system on the Polish market to provide an opportunity for a comprehensive energy analysis. Thanks to this, the enterprise’s activity becomes not only cheaper, but also much greener!
Beneficiary: Prognosis Sp. z o.o.
Project: Implementation of the business model and the innovative Prognosis system on the domestic and foreign markets
Total project value: 964 442 PLN
EU contribution (Eastern Poland Programme): 799 952 PLN
To guarantee clean air
Smog is a common problem that we all face today. Should we take a walk or stay at home? Perhaps taking your child to the playground is not such a good idea today? Current air condition monitoring is no longer a whim - it is a necessity.
Airly smart monitoring system to the rescue! Sensors, which can be suspended at any school, kindergarten or park, collect data on the concentration of harmful substances. The data are then collected and analysed on a special platform, airly.eu (they can also be monitored with the use of a mobile app). The system also takes into account such factors as air humidity or wind strength and allows for forecasting pollution levels and issuing appropriate alerts.
The company has initiated many campaigns to raise public awareness of the importance of the smog problem: #KrakowOddycha (Krakow is breathing), #WarszawaOddycha (Warsaw is breathing), or #PolskaOddycha (Poland is breathing). The Airly network is growing every day and the sensors are being installed in new cities and gminas.
Beneficiary: Airly
Project: Development and implementation of effective forecasting and monitoring of air pollution based on AI techniques with the use of data from an extensive measurement network
Total project value: 236 371,37 PLN
EU contribution (Smart Growth Programme): 236 371,37 PLN
