TVP SOLAR SA

Their core work

TVP Solar is a Geneva-based SME developing solar thermal technology for medium- and high-temperature heat applications — the kind of heat industrial processes and buildings actually need, not just hot water. Their work in H2020 centers on integrating solar thermal collectors into two demanding use cases: supplying process heat to food and agro-industrial plants (SHIP2FAIR) and coupling solar collectors with advanced heat pumps for building decarbonization (SunHorizon). Both projects are Innovation Actions, meaning TVP Solar is bringing near-market hardware into real demonstration sites rather than running lab research. For a business or integrator, they are a hardware supplier plus system-integration expert for solar heat.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

The evolution signal is limited: both H2020 projects started in 2018 and ran to 2023, so there is no real before/after to compare. Across the two projects we see one consistent theme — getting solar thermal heat into real industrial and building applications — applied to two different demand profiles (industrial process heat in one, heat pump coupling in the other). The progression within the portfolio is from collector-plus-process integration toward collector-plus-active-equipment integration with digital monitoring layered on top.

They are moving from passive process-heat supply toward hybrid systems that combine solar collectors with heat pumps and digital control, which fits the broader electrification-plus-renewables direction of building and industry decarbonization.

How they like to work

TVP Solar joins as a participant rather than coordinator in both projects, contributing hardware and integration expertise inside large Innovation Action consortia (39 partners across 13 countries between just two projects). This is classic specialist-SME behavior: they bring a specific technology component into demonstration consortia led by others. Working with them means getting a focused hardware and integration partner, not a project manager.

Across just two projects they connect with 39 unique partners in 13 countries, signaling broad European reach concentrated in energy-sector Innovation Actions rather than tight repeat-partner clusters.

What sets them apart

Most solar companies stop at hot water or photovoltaics; TVP Solar plays in the harder and less crowded space of medium/high-temperature solar thermal for processes and hybrid heat-pump systems. They are a Swiss SME small enough to focus on one technology line but credible enough to attract EUR 3.1M of EC funding across two Innovation Actions with 39 partners. For a partner, this means a deep specialist on solar heat integration rather than a generalist renewables vendor.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SHIP2FAIR
  Their largest H2020 engagement at EUR 2.03M, bringing solar thermal heat directly into food and agro-industrial processes — a high-value decarbonization target that few hardware SMEs address.
• SunHorizon
  Couples their solar collectors with innovative heat pumps and adds predictive control and monitoring, showing a shift from standalone solar heat toward hybrid renewable-heating systems.