DUALSUN

Their core work

DualSun is a French technology SME based in Marseille that develops and manufactures hybrid solar panels — a product that generates both electricity (photovoltaic) and heat (thermal) from a single rooftop panel. In the H2020 context, they contributed their core technology to projects focused on coupling solar panels with heat pumps and enabling energy-positive buildings. Their practical expertise spans solar-thermal integration, predictive maintenance of energy systems, and the control logic needed to optimize combined solar-heat pump installations. They are an industrial technology provider, not a research lab — bringing a commercially deployed product into collaborative R&D settings.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

DualSun's two H2020 projects started just one year apart (2018 and 2019) and ran nearly in parallel, which makes clean chronological evolution difficult to trace. Their first project, SunHorizon, was deeply technical — focused on the mechanics of coupling solar panels with heat pumps, including control algorithms, monitoring, and predictive maintenance. The second project, EXCESS, shifted the frame from component integration toward whole-building energy performance and user-centric design, suggesting a move up the value chain from hardware toward system-level and building-scale applications. The trend points toward DualSun positioning itself not just as a panel manufacturer but as a building energy technology contributor.

DualSun appears to be expanding from component-level solar-thermal technology toward integrated building energy solutions — a natural progression for a panel manufacturer moving into the smart buildings and renovation market.

How they like to work

DualSun has participated in both projects as a consortium partner, never as coordinator — consistent with an industrial SME that brings a specific commercial technology into research consortia rather than leading research programs. With 43 unique partners across 16 countries from just 2 projects, they are embedded in large, internationally diverse consortia typical of Innovation Actions. This profile suggests they are sought out as an industry demonstrator or technology provider rather than a research-driving partner.

DualSun has built a surprisingly wide network for a two-project participant — 43 unique partners spanning 16 countries, reflecting the large consortia typical of H2020 Innovation Actions in the energy sector. Their geographic reach is fully European, with no indication of a regional cluster bias.

What sets them apart

DualSun occupies a rare commercial niche: they sell a physical product (hybrid solar panels producing heat and electricity simultaneously) that most energy research consortia need but few can supply from within. This makes them a highly concrete industrial partner — not a research group offering methods, but a company offering a deployable technology for demonstration. For a consortium building a solar-thermal or nearly-zero-energy-building project, DualSun brings both the hardware and the field experience to make demonstration sites credible.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SunHorizon
  DualSun's largest H2020 project (EUR 758,625) and the most technically aligned with their core product — directly targeting the integration of solar panels with heat pumps, including predictive control and monitoring.
• EXCESS
  Extends DualSun's reach into energy-positive housing and user-centric demand flexibility, signaling their ambition to position their technology within the broader smart buildings and renovation ecosystem.