21-22 April: CIRCUSOL held its Consortium Meeting in Berlin

CIRCUSOL team met face-to-face for its last Consortium meeting before the end of the project in Berlin, Germany last 21 and 22 of April 2022. The partners had also the chance to make a short visit to the hardware co-working space (MotionLab Berlin) that Suncrafter, our host this time, use to develop and improve their creations.

The meeting happened in a physical formal (almost all the partners had managed to have at least one representative in Berlin), which was very welcomed by everybody since most part of the project had, unfortunately, happened online. Zabala Innovation was also present, as the company participates in the Project Management and Communication & Dissemination work packages.

INSIGHTS FROM CIRCUSOL CONSORTIUM MEETING

This Consortium Meeting was planned in a slightly different way from a regular one. Instead of a thorough presentation of the activities performed by every CIRCUSOL work package, the idea was to swift the focus to the future and the way forward. Said otherwise, what we, as a consortium, wanted to be the lasting messages for the last months of the project and beyond.

The first two sessions were led by the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BUAS). They focused on the simulation model and the asset database that they had built, whose aim is to increase the understanding of the complex system of second life PV and make accurate predictions considering various parameters.

After that, the Flemish research organisation, VITO, presented some findings about the surveys and focus groups that took place in Flanders, and how they overcame the existence of asymmetric information in the second life PV value chain. The last session of the first day was related to the development of the Guide for Policymakers by Lund University.

The second day of the Consortium Meeting, ViTO organised an interactive workshop for all the partners. They made us reflect on the most important events related to the project and how they affected the way we see future development of CIRCUSOL activities and results.

VISIT TO MOTIONLAB

As a side event of the CIRCUSOL meeting, Suncrafter organised a visit to the co-working space MotionLab. MotionLab is an innovation hub located at the heart of Berlin that Suncrafter uses to create their charging hub models and introduce new developments into their products. What makes this place so special is that, instead of a software-focused co-working space, it is one of the few hardware-oriented.

This hardtech hub counts on more than 70 start-ups and 500 members that can use the facilities and equipment that, in most cases, involve machinery too expensive for a small new company alone. Following their motto “From the idea to the series”, they have managed to put together the necessary (3D printing, laser cutting, electronics, textiles, wood and metal labs, et.)  to develop the ideas from prototypes to series production.

This was also the place chosen to conduct the interview to the CEO of Suncrafter, Lisa Wendzich, as part of the dissemination activities to showcase the work of the demonstrators planned within the project CIRCUSOL.

The consortium at MotionLab Berlin. April 2022