Environ: Innovation for the energy transition

David has always had a soft spot for technology. After completing his apprenticeship as an industrial electronics technician at 2G Energy GmbH in Heek, he decided to study energy management alongside his job in order to deepen his knowledge. He worked in various areas at 2G, where his work in sales and project management particularly characterised him.

In 2018, he moved to the USA for work. But then came the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, and travel restrictions meant that his practical work in the USA was cancelled for the time being. To compensate, he began installing PV systems - a sideline that quickly became a real passion. This period got him thinking.

"That was the moment when I knew I had to do my own thing," recalls David. This gave rise to the plan to develop innovative solutions for photovoltaic systems, battery storage and heat pumps - not as a traditional craft business, but with a future-orientated, networked approach.

The special feature of Environ is the specially developed Envi IQ software. It connects photovoltaic systems, heat pumps, battery storage systems and wallboxes with each other. The result: a system that utilises dynamic electricity tariffs, increases self-consumption, intelligently shifts loads and thus enables customers to make sustainable savings. In this way, the home becomes its own municipal utility.

"We call this a win-win-win situation," explains David. "Our customers save money, we relieve the strain on the grids and the energy transition is driven forward." The team is particularly proud of the cloud solution, which enables flexible updates at any time - without the need for a technician visit.

Like any start-up, Environ also faces challenges: “It’s not always easy to win over customers who are still wary of renewable energy,” admits David. The search for qualified specialists also remains a challenge. But the team is in agreement: the market is huge, and the future lies in networked, energy-efficient integrated systems.

David has big dreams: “With 20,000 connected households, we could, in theory, feed the equivalent of a large power station’s output of solar power into the grid.” This vision drives the team forward, even when there are setbacks.