Volateq GmbH
Volateq
Volateq GmbH was founded in 2020 by Dr. Christoph Prahl, Wolfgang Reinalter and Anne Schlierbach from the DLR Institute for Solar Research.
The founding team has already been active in research and development for the solar industry for many years. More than 10 years ago, the paths of the three crossed in sunny Almería in southern Spain, where they worked together on research projects and industrial contracts at the Plataforma Solar De Almeria (PSA). They saw potential to improve solar energy performance and founded their start-up in autumn 2020.
Volateq offers its customers easy-to-use software with automated analysis tools for airborne condition monitoring of solar thermal power plants and photovoltaic systems. The VolaTrough and VolaVoltaic products enable autonomous and flexible condition monitoring of solar fields, which is quick and easy to implement, delivers precise results and is also significantly more cost-effective and faster than is currently the case.
The basis for this is provided by the QFly technology developed at DLR and awarded the SolarPACES Technology Award. It analyses aerial images of collectors taken by drones flying over the solar field. Volateq has expanded the technology in order to be able to offer automated condition detection on the market.
The company works with portfolio owners and asset managers to detect and correct anomalies and misalignments in assets that can affect energy production.
Regular flyovers are conducted to compare the conditions of different parts of the plant and look at changes over time. With further measures to improve safety and efficiency, it is possible to implement predictive maintenance strategies.
The vision: to accelerate a global, sustainable energy supply.
Volateq's mission is to provide user-friendly and reliable airborne condition monitoring for solar plants to improve their performance, productivity, safety and cost efficiency.