Helios Energy - Business with the Idea of Freedom

The company Helios Georgia was founded in 2017 to employ the use of solar energy. The idea of its foundation is not like the typical beginnings of a company, coming more as a history of how a business can be built on the idea of freedom: allowing each citizen in Georgia to be energy independent, and in this way to reach a common energy independency in the country.

The company founder Tornike Darjania tells us that in 2017 he was one of the first to, because of a hobby and special interest in solar panels, set up a solar PV station and get it included in the net calculation system. Since then, he hasn’t had to pay electricity bills, as his own station is enough to meet his energy needs. He later bought an electronic car and charges it at his own e-station. So he isn’t a consumer of fuel products either.

This interesting story was a focus of interest for many media representatives in 2017, and many citizens liked the idea of being energy independent. It’s not surprising that we all want to be energy-independent, have our own source of energy and not be dependent on our state, and much less on any other country, since the country is suffering an energy deficit right now. Today, we have the possibility to produce “pure,” ecologically clean energy thanks to modern technology, consume it, and if we are in surplus of this “product,” sell it to the state. This is a type of breakthrough in our lives, a new world with amazing opportunities that gives us hope we’ll never return to the “dark ages” of the 1990s, when we lived in an energy crisis. Most importantly, solar energy is inexhaustible: the sun gives more energy to the planet than is needed.

After Tornike, many came to love the idea of having their own source of energy, and that is where the idea of founding a company that gave everyone this possibility came from.

Ever since its establishment in 2017, the company Helios Georgia has undergone many stages of development. “It’s really encouraging to be an inspiration for people to use a renewable, clean source of energy,” the company founder tells us. With this aim at heart, the company continues to implement interesting educational and popularizing projects about solar energy, hosting meetings with different groups, adolescents (especially in the regions), and places educational videos on the company’s YouTube channel.

In 2019, a Helios Energy Academy was founded where every interested individual has the possibility to find out more about the solar energy. A basic course about renewable energy is available for everyone.

In 2018, Helios Georgia partnered up with a German company titled IMS Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, with the aim of heading bigger projects using German competencies. Also in 2018, a contract was signed with E-Space, a company working to develop a network of electronic automobile chargers. Helios Energy strives to develop the renewable energy field and market in Georgia, in joint force with partner companies.

Within the scope of partnership with the German company, Helios Georgia got to train its staff in Germany. The company’s employees are also participating in building a solar energy station in Germany. So, we can safely say that Helios Energy is the only company in Georgia that follows European standards when installing solar e-stations. Plus, the company has employees with the highest competencies.

The company’s data suggests that the demand for the solar e-stations are increasing by the year. For example, from 2018 to 2019, the demand for it multiplied five times. Helios Energy tries to, simultaneous with the rising demand, lower the price of the solar e-stations, all the while keeping the high standards of installation.

From founding to date, many interesting projects were implemented, but some of them are worth a special mention:

• A 120 kilowatt e-station, placed on the roofs of the Free and Agricultural University Tbilisi, serving as an energy source for the one of the biggest, if not the biggest, colleges in the country. Other than that, the solar panels protect the roofs from over-heating. This station is the biggest in the country according to its strength, installed by a Georgian company.

• A 5 kilowatt station in Gori, fully supporting the energy level of an eco-friendly house where heating and cooling systems are completely dependent on e-energy. So, the owner doesn’t pay the communal bills: natural gas has not even been installed in the house.

• Evex Clinic in Kareli, with a 64 kilowatt solar PV station, fully supplying the clinic with e-energy.

• Altihut, an alpine cabin located 3015 meters above sea level, has a 12 kilowatt hybrid solar PV station installed, supplying the cabin and the antenna, the antenna being the only source of communication for the tourists to connect to the outside world.

According to Helios Georgia, to reach full energy independency, it is crucial to solve three issues using renewable energies: 1. Electroenergy production 2. Heating and Cooling systems 3. Mobility, transportation.

Thanks to modern technologies, it is possible to supply the above three fields with the solar energy. In the first case, the solar e-station helps us produce ecologically clean and renewable energy, also useful for cooling and heating systems. E-mobiles are no longer a novelty, but are something we should implement more to make our mobility sustainable.

Helios Energy aims to make this technology maximally affordable and available, as it gives people and the whole country the opportunity to be less dependent on centralized energy sources and to reach partial or full energy freedom.

By Nini Dakhundaridze