Much has been made of how European countries are, on the one hand, supporting Ukraine in its fight against the heinous and illegal invasion by Russia but at the same time remaining heavily dependent on Russian energy sources.

Many countries in the EU — currently experiencing a heatwave — have scrambled to switch to alternatives, such as renewables, which are considered one of the key factors of in reaching energy independence from Russia.

So it is a delicious irony that a Ukrainian woman tech entrepreneur has come up with a way to allow ordinary Europeans to fight Russia, by easily installing solar panels on their numerous balconies.

WeDoSolar, launched in February 2022 (the month Russia invaded Ukraine) and says it has so far received “thousand of orders” for its “vertical solar power” panels, which are specifically designed to be mounted, with weatherproof straps, onto to balconies by non-tech-savvy users.

WeDoSolar claims it can reduce a household’s CO₂ footprint by up to 600 kg and electricity bills by up to 25% per year.

The EU imported approximately 155 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas from Russia in 2021. That amounts to around 40% of the EU’s total gas consumption, with dependency rising to 65% in Germany.

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