Energy independence, local production and respect for the environment are three key components of the solution proposed by Maana Electric, Joost van Oorschot’s start-up. Photo: Shutterstock, Maison Moderne; Montage: Maison Moderne

Energy independence, local production and respect for the environment are three key components of the solution proposed by Maana Electric, Joost van Oorschot’s start-up. Photo: Shutterstock, Maison Moderne; Montage: Maison Moderne

Luxembourg startup Maana Electric--with its solar panel manufacturing solution--has just secured its first orders exceeding €100m. It has also announced that it is continuing its partnership with the European and Luxembourg space agencies.

2023 will have been a good year for Luxembourg startup Maana Electric, founded in 2018 and based in Foetz. Its expertise lies in developing green technologies across the entire value chain in the manufacture of solar panels. In other words, its “Terrabox” system is designed to produce solar panels anywhere in the world using only in situ resources, i.e. resources available locally to produce panels, in particular impure sand.

After raising its first funds in July, the company announced in a press release on Monday 7 August 2023 its first commercial orders, worth more than €100m over the period 2024-2026. These orders concern the automated mobile factories developed by Maana Electric to produce solar panels. Twenty machines of this type have been ordered. “Each one can produce a new solar panel every six minutes, which leads to a capacity of 35 MW per year and per machine,” says CEO and founder Joost van Oorschot, who does not say more about the identity of this customer. These machines also have the advantage of being operational quickly after installation, and require no more than a day’s training for local operators. They are supplied with all the necessary consumables.

A viable technique and a revolutionary technology

“This new contract allows us to fully demonstrate the technical viability of our revolutionary technologies for transforming raw sand (and in future, lunar regolith) into functional solar panels using local resources. This is going to be a game-changer, especially in the current context where it's vital to be energy independent by producing locally and doing so in an environmentally friendly way,” stresses the startup’s CEO.

And Maana Electric’s machine is still expected to appeal widely: “There is a clear market need for our customers to produce solar panels while producing with healthy margins,” notes Maana Electric, which indicates that discussions are open with “many other solar energy developers, mainly in Africa and the Middle East, to deploy many more machines in the coming years.”

The startup is also announcing the extension of its R&D partnership with space agencies. “We are extremely grateful for the support of the Luxembourg Space Agency and the European Space Agency for their continued support over the past five years.”

This article was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.

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