Press release: Solarstone, a Solar Roof Company, Strikes Major Deal in Norway

In the photo, Stavanger Mayor Sissel Knutsen Hegdal at the Sunde Nursing Home, where the solar roof installation, including construction work, cost nearly €360,000. The municipality installed solar roofs produced in Estonia, Viljandi, on five nursing homes, investing a total of over €1.7 million including construction work.

Photo: Bjørn Ove Bergseteren

Mr Romet Roosalu, CEO of Solarstone, stated that the Municipality of Stavanger chose the Estonian manufacturer when renovating nursing homes because building integrated solar panels offer a dual solution. "The roofs of the nursing homes were deteriorating and in need of replacement, but the municipality also aims to reduce climate impact and transition to renewable energy." According to Roosalu, replacing the roofing material and installing solar panels on the roof is no longer a practical decision with today's solutions: "Solarstone is a two-in-one product – roofing material that also generates solar energy."

Sissel Knutsen Hegdal, the Mayor of Stavanger, said the project is a good example of modernizing buildings during renovations. "During the renovation of nursing homes, we also took the opportunity to transition to new, future energy sources. We plan to continue this with other municipal buildings," Hegdal told the Norwegian media outlet Aftenbladet.

Stavanger is known as Norway's oil capital and is the country's third-largest municipality in terms of population, following Oslo and Bergen. Solarstone's building-integrated solar panels, produced in Estonia, in the Viljandi factory, will be installed on five nursing homes, generating an estimated total of 755,000 kWh of electricity annually. This is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 38 average Norwegian homes and will help save 14.3 tons of CO₂ per year. The solar investment in the five buildings will cost the Stavanger municipality over 20 million Norwegian kroner, or approximately €1.7 million.

Norway is the greenest country in the world. The Norwegian parliament approved a proposal to achieve climate neutrality by 2030, two decades earlier than planned in both Norway and the EU. The country has achieved tremendous success in the adoption of electric vehicles – according to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, 82% of new vehicles sold in 2023 were electric.

Solarstone's Norwegian partners, Solintegra and Trefadder, ensure that for every kilowatt of electricity produced on rooftops, one tree is planted in Norway. This also offsets the carbon footprint of installing the solar roof. Five Stavanger nursing home projects together equate to 883 trees planted. On average, one tree absorbs 220 tons of CO2 over its lifetime.

Solarstone OÜ, a company producing energy-efficient solar roofs, was founded in 2015. The company has installed over 1,200 solar roofs to date. Solarstone's factory in Estonia is the largest integrated solar panel assembly plant in Europe.