Mahle invests in photovoltaic start-up

The automotive supplier aims to open up new business areas with its strategic investment in Sunmaxx PVT.

Mahle is investing in the start-up Sunmaxx PVT. This is the group's third strategic investment. "With the strategic investment in Sunmaxx, we are opening up a new business field for Mahle in the renewable energy market," says Jumana Al-Sibai, member of the management board. Sunmaxx specializes in generating electricity and heat from solar energy. In the future, the start-up will integrate Mahle's thermal management solutions into its photovoltaic systems.

"The combination of solar and automotive know-how opens up completely new potential for the further development of highly innovative solar systems," says Wilhelm Stein, who founded Sunmaxx 2021. The Dresden-based start-up wants to make photovoltaic systems more efficient. Conventional PV systems would only use a limited portion of the irradiated solar energy. Part of the energy would often be lost as waste heat. Sunmaxx wants to use this waste heat and transfer it to a heating circuit. This system is particularly suitable in combination with heat pumps for supplying heat to single- and multi-family homes, office buildings, and industrial and commercial facilities.