The Solenza Story
In early 1998 Dr Mike Duke and Tim Anderson formed the Solar Engineering Research Group (SERG) at the University of Waikato as a primary vehicle to study solar energy generation. As work developed and the team increased, it became apparent that solar panels lose 80-90% of their potential energy as heat. The team then focused on how traditional panels could be developed to convert some of this heat into useful energy. In 2004 the team successfully trialled their "building integrated photovoltaic thermal solar panel", which converts 70% of solar energy into useful energy.
Solenza was created to commercialise this novel building integrated renewable energy solution. Continued research through SERG is channelled through Solenza to ensure both the continued development of solar energy technologies and that those solutions provide the most cost effective output for the consumer.