AKOTEC PRODUKTIONSGESELLSCHAFT MBH

Their core work

AKOTEC is a German SME based in Angermünde that manufactures solar thermal components — particularly solar collectors and heat exchangers — for building heating and cooling systems. Their H2020 work focuses on integrating solar thermal energy with sorption-based technologies (zeolite chillers, adsorption heat pumps) and biomass systems to provide year-round heating and cooling for buildings. They contribute as a hardware partner, bringing production capability for thermal components into research consortia developing next-generation renewable heating systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

AKOTEC's H2020 trajectory shows a clear progression from component-level solar thermal work toward increasingly integrated building energy systems. Their earliest project (ZEOSOL, 2017) centered on a single zeolite chiller-heat pump unit, while SWS-HEATING (2018) added seasonal storage with sorbent materials, and SolBio-Rev (2019) expanded further to combine solar with biomass in reversible cascade configurations. The direction is unmistakable: from standalone solar thermal hardware toward multi-source, multi-season building energy solutions.

AKOTEC is moving from single-technology solar thermal components toward full building energy systems that combine solar, biomass, and advanced storage — making them a strong fit for future projects on decarbonized district or residential heating.

How they like to work

AKOTEC participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as a manufacturing SME contributing hardware expertise to research-driven consortia. With 22 unique partners across 8 countries in just 3 projects, they work in mid-to-large consortia and appear comfortable in international teams. This profile suggests a reliable industrial partner that brings production know-how without seeking project leadership overhead.

AKOTEC has collaborated with 22 distinct partners across 8 countries through 3 projects, indicating broad European reach for a small company. Their network is concentrated in the renewable heating and building energy research community.

What sets them apart

AKOTEC occupies a valuable niche as a German production company that bridges the gap between laboratory-scale solar thermal research and manufacturable hardware. Unlike university partners who develop concepts, AKOTEC brings the ability to actually build and iterate on solar collectors, heat exchangers, and thermal system components at production scale. For consortium builders, they offer what many renewable heating projects need but struggle to find: an SME that can turn thermal designs into physical prototypes and pre-commercial products.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ZEOSOL
  Their largest funded project (EUR 476k), tackling the technically demanding integration of zeolite sorption with solar thermal for combined heating and cooling.
• SolBio-Rev
  Represents their most ambitious system scope — a reversible solar-biomass cascade covering a large share of building energy needs, running through 2024.