On Monday, Sono Motors’ insolvency was announced with a brief statement in Munich. The company ceased operations on 31 July, and insolvency proceedings were officially opened. The statement revealed that the company had pursued talks with investors “intensively until the very end”, but a viable financing solution ultimately failed to materialise. All that remains is a notice of sale.
The two managing directors, Denis Azhar and Jan Schiermeister, are now offering the core technical portfolio to buyers in three packages: the solar integration of the Sion, the power electronics including the solar charge controller for vehicles, and the Solar Data Services. This also includes hardware components and technical documentation. “A decade of solar mobility know-how is truly unique,” Azhar stated.
What exactly is being sold?
The core of the offering is not the solar module itself but the electronics behind it. A solar charge controller balances the highly fluctuating voltage of the modules with the vehicle’s onboard power system voltage, continuously determining the optimal operating point at which the cells deliver maximum power. On a rooftop, this is a manageable task. However, for a lorry driving under bridges, past rows of houses, and through tree-lined avenues, sunlight and shade alternate in milliseconds. Partial shading can significantly reduce the efficiency of a poorly designed system. Sono Motors spent years attempting to solve this very problem.
