Naked Energy Launches Dedicated System Design Service for Integrated Solar Thermal Solutions

UK-based solar thermal technology company Naked Energy has launched a dedicated system design service aimed at helping businesses plan, model, and deploy integrated solar thermal energy systems, addressing long-standing efficiency challenges in renewable heat projects.

Unlike conventional solar photovoltaic (PV) systems that generate electricity, solar thermal technology produces renewable heat. Naked Energy’s Virtu range of collectors is positioned as having the highest energy density across both solar thermal and solar PV technologies, delivering efficiencies up to ten times higher than traditional PV panels.

The company’s VirtuHOT collector is capable of generating clean heat at temperatures of up to 120°C, while the VirtuPVT collector combines solar PV and thermal technologies to simultaneously produce electricity and heat at temperatures of up to 75°C. Both products have received TÜV Rheinland certification, with VirtuPVT becoming the world’s first evacuated hybrid solar collector to achieve this certification.

With the launch of the new service, Naked Energy becomes the first UK solar thermal manufacturer to offer bespoke system integration designs directly from a British original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The service provides customised plans to integrate solar thermal technology into customers’ wider energy systems, an offering previously unavailable in the UK solar thermal market.

To lead the initiative, Sam Notter has joined Naked Energy as Principal Design Engineer. A chartered engineer, Notter brings experience from Vital Energi, where he worked on UK district heating and large-scale decarbonisation projects, as well as previous roles at Veolia and Engie as a systems design engineer.

Naked Energy said inefficient system design has been a persistent challenge in the industry, as modern energy systems increasingly combine multiple technologies with differing operational characteristics. The company’s system design team uses industry-standard tools such as Polysun and EnergyPro, alongside a proprietary in-house modelling platform that simulates heating system interactions to deliver accurate performance forecasts.

The service is primarily targeted at commercial and industrial customers with year-round heat demand, supporting their heat decarbonisation planning with reliable and data-driven system designs.

Commenting on the launch, Christophe Williams, CEO of Naked Energy, said growing awareness of renewable heating has not always translated into efficient system performance due to poorly integrated technologies. He said the new service is designed to help businesses maximise the value of their renewable heating investments and described the appointment of Sam Notter as a key step in the company’s ambition to lead the UK’s heat decarbonisation efforts.

Sam Notter said that decarbonising heat requires carefully designed systems in which multiple technologies operate efficiently together. He added that Naked Energy’s Virtu technology has the potential to reshape approaches to heat decarbonisation and expressed confidence in accelerating impact through the new system design service.