Solar Monkey
Talking to founder Jan Pieter Versluijs
ImpactCity is celebrating its tenth anniversary with an exhibition in the town hall, a poster campaign throughout the city, and of course, a special anniversary edition of ImpactFest.
We have selected ten entrepreneurs who have made a special contribution to the impact ecosystem in The Hague over the past ten years. Solar Monkey is one of these ten companies, so we visited them for an interview with founder Jan Pieter. The article below is based on that interview.
Solar Monkey
From attic room to innovation platform
Solar Monkey has grown into a leading software developer that helps installers design and sell sustainable energy solutions. From solar panels to home batteries, heat pumps and charging stations: Solar Monkey’s software enables installers to quickly and accurately calculate how much energy an installation will generate and how it can best be used. ‘We help installers sell more and more easily,’ says founder Jan Pieter. ‘This way, we make sustainable energy more accessible to everyone.’
The origins of Solar Monkey lie in a combination of entrepreneurship and a passion for sustainability. In 2015, Jan Pieter and two fellow engineers from Delft University of Technology started the company literally from an attic room. ‘We saw that the way solar panels were sold was actually fundamental and old-fashioned. There was a lot of room for improvement,’ he says. The goal was clear from the start: to make solar energy the world’s primary energy source.
Smart tech behind the success
What makes Solar Monkey unique is the technology behind the software. Installers can remotely map a location using aerial images and 3D models. The software automatically calculates the yield of solar panels, consumption, feed-in to the grid and even performs simulations with home batteries. Everything is clearly presented in a quotation. ‘You can literally draw up a realistic plan and quotation for a customer in a matter of minutes. That saves a lot of time and prevents errors,’ explains Jan Pieter.
Growth, challenges and milestones
Since its inception, Solar Monkey has achieved impressive milestones. The company launched the first working platform, grew into the market leader in the Netherlands and expanded to Belgium, Germany, Spain and England. In addition to solar panels, the platform now also supports batteries, heat pumps and charging stations. ‘The best moment? That we became profitable and at the same time have a close-knit and driven team,’ says Jan Pieter. That profitability marked the transition from VC-driven growth to a financially healthy and strategically decisive organisation.
Culture and mission-driven entrepreneurship
Solar Monkey’s success goes beyond figures. The company takes a mission-driven approach in which profit is a means, not an end. Jan Pieter draws inspiration from examples such as Patagonia and the concept of Steward Ownership: companies in which financial interests and control are separated, so that the mission always takes centre stage. ‘For us, the mission is absolutely paramount. We use profit to realise our vision, not the other way around,’ he says. The culture within Solar Monkey is open, performance-oriented and focused on collaboration. Biennial off-sites and international teams strengthen cohesion and reveal hidden talents among employees.
We frequently collaborate with individuals remotely from other countries. We regularly gather the entire company at a single location for three days for team building and collaboration. This consistently results in remarkable experiences and the discovery of colleagues’ hidden talents. During karaoke, someone once stood up and announced, ‘I have been singing opera for years,’ and then proceeded to deliver a fantastic soprano performance.
Looking ahead: a global energy transition
Ten years after its foundation, Solar Monkey has developed into an international player with a clear mission and ambition that extends beyond software alone: accelerating the global adoption of sustainable energy. As Jan Pieter puts it: ‘For us, it’s not just about software, but about impact. Every installation that is sold faster and better contributes to a sustainable future.’ They have a market share of approximately 25-30 per cent in the Netherlands and were recognised by Deloitte Fast 50 in 2021 as one of the fastest-growing technical companies in the Netherlands.
Looking to the future, Solar Monkey has ambitious plans. By 2035, the company aims to supply its leading software to installers worldwide. ‘We see a future in which solar energy is the largest source of energy. With our software, we help installers around the world accelerate that transition,’ says Jan Pieter. By combining technology and ease of use, Solar Monkey hopes to make sustainable energy widely accessible and thus make a substantial contribution to the energy transition.
Ten years of ImpactCity,
ten entrepreneurs in the spotlight
Solar Monkey is a wonderful example of “doing good and doing business” and has therefore been selected as one of ten entrepreneurs to celebrate and showcase ten years of ImpactCity.
Campaign images of Solar Monkey and the nine other entrepreneurs were displayed on digital screens throughout the city from 21 October to 3 November. In addition, there was also an exhibition entitled “10 Years of ImpactCity” in the town hall from 29 October to 27 November.