Solar Impulse: Flowplan

Bertrand Piccard started the Solar Impulse project in 2003 with the goal of highlighting green solutions with a sustainable business model. In total, 1,000 solutions are awarded the label through the project.

Solutions are selected by both internal and external experts based on the criteria below:

Applicability

Solutions must be relevant and useful. They are chosen based on both their application potential and development opportunities, with both technical capability and the concept being assessed.

Impact

Solutions must have a direct positive impact on the environment. In addition, the environmental footprint of development, operation, and production is assessed.

Economics

Solutions must deliver savings to the consumer in the short term and potentially generate increased revenue in the long term.

Flowplan received the Solar Impulse label in spring 2020

The Flowplan solution can reduce driving, cut scale filter waste, and extend machine lifetimes. Scale filters are used on all water-consuming industrial machines such as coffee machines and dishwashers, and need replacing depending on consumption. The Flowplan solution continuously measures each machine's precise water consumption and uses the collected data to plan filter changes, so every filter is changed on time.

Optimal use of the scale filters saves service companies administration time and driving, and keeps consumption and filter usage from running wild. End users (cafés and others) get lower costs by reducing annual filter consumption and avoiding expensive repairs caused by scaled-up machines.

With Flowplan, no scale filter is changed too early or too late.

Protection of the environment would become a reality only if it was perceived as economically viable and requiring no financial or behavioral sacrifices. Today, efficient solutions exist that can boost economic growth, while at the same time reducing our impact on the planet.
Bertrand Piccard, Founder of the Solar Impulse Foundation