Simple solar energy with Fortum Aurinko

Simple solar energy with Fortum Aurinko

When the sun is underestimated, the real challenge is explaining what it can actually do.

In 2016, Fortum made a decisive move toward clean energy — not just as a vision, but as a product you could buy, install, and understand. Solar panels had been available for years, but the experience around them was fragmented, jargon-heavy, and hard to navigate for ordinary homeowners. The opportunity was to rethink the entire journey from first curiosity to panels on the roof. We joined a multi-vendor design team embedded at Fortum's headquarters in Espoo, working alongside Fjord, Ixonos, Futurice, and others as one integrated team inside the organisation. The focus was clear: build digital services that make solar energy feel obvious, not intimidating. The work covered three connected experiences — a redesigned marketing website with a solar benefit calculator, and Fortum SODA, an order and delivery platform serving customers, Fortum staff, and third-party installers. The result was a coherent, end-to-end solar experience that made Fortum competitive in a market it was determined to lead.

Year

2016

Industry

Energy

Scope of work

/

Strategic Design

/

UX & Product Design

Timeline

2016

When the sun is underestimated, the real challenge is explaining what it can actually do.

In 2016, Fortum made a decisive move toward clean energy — not just as a vision, but as a product you could buy, install, and understand. Solar panels had been available for years, but the experience around them was fragmented, jargon-heavy, and hard to navigate for ordinary homeowners. The opportunity was to rethink the entire journey from first curiosity to panels on the roof. We joined a multi-vendor design team embedded at Fortum's headquarters in Espoo, working alongside Fjord, Ixonos, Futurice, and others as one integrated team inside the organisation. The focus was clear: build digital services that make solar energy feel obvious, not intimidating. The work covered three connected experiences — a redesigned marketing website with a solar benefit calculator, and Fortum SODA, an order and delivery platform serving customers, Fortum staff, and third-party installers. The result was a coherent, end-to-end solar experience that made Fortum competitive in a market it was determined to lead.

Year

2016

Industry

Energy

Scope of work

/

Strategic Design

/

UX & Product Design

Timeline

2016

Making the case for solar in the Nordics

The biggest barrier to solar adoption in Finland wasn't cost — it was disbelief. Many potential customers assumed there simply wasn't enough sun in the Nordics to make it worthwhile. Before anyone would consider purchasing, that doubt had to be addressed head-on. We created Fortum Aurinkolaskuri, a solar benefit calculator that gives any homeowner a personalised estimate in seconds. Enter your address, and the tool uses building properties and measured solar radiation data to calculate your roof's energy potential, recommended panel configuration, expected annual production, electricity bill savings, and payback time. No technical knowledge required. The user experience was kept deliberately minimal. One input, one click, one clear result. We stripped out solar jargon — inverters, kilowatt-hours, peak output — and replaced them with outcomes people actually care about: money saved, energy produced, years to break even. The calculator became the front door to the entire solar offering.

Aurinkolaskuri was used 22,000 times in its first month. The volume validated both the interest in solar and the power of removing friction from the first moment of discovery.

Connecting everyone in the delivery chain

Buying solar panels is the easy part. Getting them properly installed — coordinating between the customer, Fortum's support team, and a third-party installer — is where the experience typically breaks down. We designed Fortum SODA to fix that. SODA is a single online service that adapts to three distinct user groups. Customers see the status of their order and know exactly what happens next. Fortum's customer service staff have a live view of every order and know which actions are needed to move things forward. Installers can log the specifics of each job, including any on-site issues they encounter and how they resolved them. The system was designed and validated together with all three groups. Every screen, every notification, every state of the order was tested with real users — not assumed. The result was a service that removed uncertainty from every step of the process, and gave each stakeholder only what they needed to see.

Feedback from customers centred on one thing: they finally knew what was happening. For most, it was the first time an energy company had kept them genuinely informed throughout a complex process. Installers valued being able to document each job in a structured way, which helped Fortum continuously improve the installation process.

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Have a project in mind, need expert insights, or simply want to explore how we can help you? Get in touch with us today.

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Have a project in mind?

By submitting, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.

Let’s talk.

Have a project in mind, need expert insights, or simply want to explore how we can help you? Get in touch with us today.

Nordkapp

Have a project in mind?

By submitting, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.

© 2026 Nordkapp

Let’s talk.

Have a project in mind, need expert insights, or simply want to explore how we can help you? Get in touch with us today.