History

Naps was established at the beginning of the 1980s when the Finnish oil and gas company Neste started research into alternative energy technologies. At that time Naps was involved in wind power, solar thermal power, biofuels and of course solar electricity. Naps’ close connection to Neste’s battery industry resulted in deep understanding of energy storage, especially lead-acid batteries, from which our customers benefit still today.

In the beginning the company engaged in constant research and development, emphasised system development and quality in its operations. The research work involved cell, electronics and battery technologies. The process of first manufacturing separate wafers and cells and then assembling them into modules was also thoroughly studied. We spent time learning how cells should best be assembled into a module. Further, splitting hydrogen from water with solar electricity, storing it and later converting back to electricity, represented a natural part in our developmental work, as it is potential technology for chemical storage and the intensification of solar electricity. Having been in the development work for a long time, we can today offer high quality products for various applications.

The conditions encountered in the field put maximum demand on the performance of all components. It was noticed that it was not enough to have just high quality individual components. You needed to know how to compile a system for a certain location and for a certain type of load. The development of a system design and sizing programme was started along with the other research. The focal area of system development was electronics. One important factor was feedback from customers and co-operation with them. Through this process a wide range of system know-how was gained.

When Neste and the power company IVO Group merged to form Fortum, one of the leading energy enterprises in Northern Europe, the renewable business was divided into separate units. In the year 2000 the solar electricity company Naps Systems Oy was established.