Deep-Tech Software Defining Utility Scale Solar Systems of Tomorrow

The funding will fuel the commercialization of Enurgen’s DUET modelling engine for utility-scale bifacial solar assets

OTTAWA, November 8, 2023—Enurgen, a deep, clean-tech solar software startup, today announced it has raised over USD $1M in pre-seed funding. Led by early stage venture capital firm 2048 Ventures, with participation from MaRS IAF, Sand Hill North, Techstars, and Avesta Fund, the funding will fuel further development of its software solution DUET (DUal-sided Energy Tracer).

Solar power is leading the way in the world’s clean energy transition. Ninety per cent of new utility-scale solar plants are utilizing bifacial solar technology–where light illuminating both sides of the solar panel generates energy–for increased energy yields. 

Enurgen’s advanced modelling capabilities can represent bifacial systems within one per cent agreement to help mitigate the current 7-13 per cent underperformance of the average utility-scale plant, providing a clear vision and reduced investment risk for asset owners. Enurgen’s detailed models can be connected to physical plants to form digital twins. With continuous performance benchmarking, digital twins can increase energy production yields and help solar asset owners grow their margins over the 25+ year lifetime of solar plants. 

“With solar market competition increasing, power purchase prices are falling, which is resulting in lower margins for asset owners. The rise of bifacial and uncertainty in rear-side irradiance has also led to performance risk. This highlights the need for realistic modelling to ensure that expected productions are realized,” said Kibby Pollak, CEO and Co-Founder of Enurgen. “Enurgen’s DUET engine solves this performance uncertainty from the design & planning phase through to operations & maintenance.” 

"Enurgen's novel solar energy modelling engine enables its software platform to provide immediate value to utility-scale solar asset owners, operators and investors to de-risk performance expectations and drive higher energy yields.  We are excited to partner with the Enurgen team to support their growth,” said Emil Savov, Managing Director of MaRS IAF.

Enurgen provides end-to-end value for these assets, from design & planning, through to asset and portfolio management. The company is in the process of completing validation projects with energy giants to prove the value of the first solar digital twins at scale. 


Enurgen is a deep, clean-tech software solution composed of highly specialized modelling engines with over seven years of R&D. Their core DUET engine has been independently tested along with a number of other solutions. The resulting report identifies Enurgen as a global leader in solar asset model representations of new and existing utility-scale bifacial photovoltaic (PV) systems. With their cloud based software, Enurgen will deliver a comprehensive solution for PV plant asset owners to assess geographic specific meteorology & interconnect power purchase feasibility, digital twin PV system design and modelling, model bankability, asset performance monitoring, and O&M dispatch automation.

Kibby Pollak, CEO & Co-Founder - kibby@enurgen.com - +1-613-858-5016

RJ Obhi - Head of Business Development & Marketing - rj@enurgen.com 

Solar startup Enurgen oversubscribes and closes USD $1M pre-seed round

Enurgen is the sole Canadian participant in the prestigious international Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator in Oslo, Norway. After months of mentor madness, pitch preparation, and networking, Enurgen casts light on energy urgency and their solution at the program’s concluding pitch fest, Demo Day.

CEO and Co-Founder Kibby Pollak presents Enurgen: “a deep-tech software company leveraging its software capabilities to help accelerate humanity’s transition to a renewable and sustainable generation future”. Enurgen’s DUET software models every solar cell in a utility-scale solar system, from front to back, and provides new ways of optimizing solar production energy yields to mitigate performance risk. DUET is one of the first commercial software platforms to tackle utility-scale bifacial performance modeling.  

Announced on Demo Day, Enurgen is thrilled to move forward on a large-scale validation project with international energy giants Equinor and Scatec. Global consulting firm Capgemini has confirmed backing of the validation project to join the leaders of this new and emerging bifacial modeling technology. The validation project highlights the need for bifacial system visibility and high temporal resolution to effectively capture utility-scale solar power plant behavior. The Enurgen team is leveraging DUET’s capabilities of creating predictability, repeatability & scalability across solar asset portfolios to accelerate energy companies like Equinor in their transition to a renewable and sustainable generation future.

To watch Enurgen’s Demo Day presentation, visit timestamp 29:45 on the Techstars stream here.

Canadian solar software startup graduates Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator with incredible momentum…

Enurgen is a deep, clean-tech sustainable energy software startup building the operating system for utility-scale solar assets. Using our advanced model with seven years of lab development and validated in global studies, we enable hyperrealistic modelling and monitoring of solar photovoltaic systems, a fundamental component to the successful operation of utility-scale plants. Emerging from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Enurgen is proud to be supported by leading pre-seed investor 2048 Ventures, and now most recently by Techstars. 

Enurgen is excited to enter the international solar playing field as we announce our acceptance and attendance to the Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator in Oslo, Norway. After a highly competitive months-long application process, Enurgen was hand-selected by global energy leaders Equinor and Capgemini, as well as pre-seed investor Techstars, as one of the 9 winning startups from a starting pool of hundreds of applicants. Our team is highly motivated to learn from global clean energy business experts and create valuable relationships with international energy companies in this 3-month long program.

Solar plants are being installed at an exponential rate to accommodate increasing demand for stable energy and a global push towards green electrification. With 80%+ of utility-scale solar systems using bifacial modules, accurate bifacial modelling is crucial for optimized performance. Enurgen’s advanced modelling capabilities can represent bifacial systems with <1% accuracy to help mitigate the current 7-13% underperformance of the average utility-scale plant, providing a clear vision and reduced investment risk for asset owners.

Enurgen was born from DUET (DUal-sided Energy Tracer), a cell-to-system level bifacial modelling software that has been under development for the past seven years within the SUNLAB research group at the University of Ottawa. Enurgen consists of co-founders Kibby Pollak, CEO; Dr. Christopher Valdivia, CTO; Professor Karin Hinzer, President of Enurgen and Founder of SUNLAB; and Professor Henry Schriemer, Head of Research, Secretary, and Associate Director of SUNLAB. Most recent additions to the team are Elias Hussary, VP Engineering, and RJ Obhi, Head of Business Development & Marketing.

Connect with Enurgen and follow us along our journey at:

Canadian clean-tech startup emerges into the solar playing field backed by fresh VC funding and acceptance to the Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator

Enurgen is an Ontario-based deep, clean-tech software startup with a mission to help accelerate the global transition to a net-zero energy future. Their core software engine has been in works for seven years to provide hyperrealistic modeling of bifacial solar photovoltaic systems. The successful commission and operation of utility-scale plants all starts with a realistic energy production model, and Enurgen’s physics-based approach builds one to 99+% accuracy. 

Enurgen is ecstatic to work with leading pre-seed round investor 2048 Ventures to build the operating platform for utility-scale solar assets. With their support, Enurgen is diving straight into product development and market validation. 

Solar plants are being installed at an exponential rate to accommodate increasing demand for stable energy and a global push towards green electrification. With 80%+ of utility-scale solar systems using bifacial modules, accurate bifacial modeling is crucial for optimized performance. Enurgen’s advanced modelling capabilities can represent bifacial systems with 99+% accuracy to help mitigate the current 7-13% underperformance of the average utility-scale plant, providing a clear vision and reduced investment risk for asset owners.

Enurgen was born from DUET (DUal-sided Energy Tracer), a cell-to-system level bifacial modeling software that has been under development for the past seven years within the SUNLAB research group at the University of Ottawa. Enurgen consists of co-founders Kibby Pollak, CEO; Dr. Christopher Valdivia, CTO; Professor Karin Hinzer, President of Enurgen and Founder of SUNLAB; and Professor Henry Schriemer, Head of Research, Secretary, and Associate Director of SUNLAB. Most recent additions to the team are Elias Hussary, VP Engineering, and RJ Obhi, Head of Business Development & Marketing. 

To connect with Enurgen and follow them along through their journey, find them at the following:

News

Solar startup Enurgen oversubscribes and closes USD $1M pre-seed round

Canadian solar software startup graduates Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator with incredible momentum…

Canadian clean-tech startup emerges into the solar playing field backed by fresh VC funding and acceptance to the Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator

Ontario clean-tech startup ignites pre-seed round by securing funding with lead investor 2048 Ventures