32. Open Climate Fix – AI cloud prediction to scale up solar power

Sustainability Award Nominee

In recognition of a sustainability leader that prioritises the health of the planet as part of its company mission.

Startups 100: Sustainability Award

Founders: Daniel “Jack” Kelly and Daniel Travers
Year founded: 2019
Website: openclimatefix.org 

You can’t predict the weather – just ask any Brit who has tried to organise a barbecue in the high-risk month of May. But, as the world becomes more reliant on solar power, unwelcome cloud cover could have far more disastrous consequences than a wet paper plate. 

Open Climate Fix is on a mission to solve that problem with its AI cloud mapping tool. Using a combination of satellite imagery, live solar data, and weather inputs, it is able to produce real-time predictions in minutes (called ‘nowcasting’ rather than ‘forecasting’). The startup claims it is already able to reduce errors in solar forecasts by 25%.

This will be pivotal for the energy transition. The National Grid currently keeps its generators operating at low capacity so they can ramp up quickly if wind and solar generation becomes compromised. Knowing exactly when the weather will turn could not only save many ruined Great British BBQs but, more importantly, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 per year. 

Crucially, Kelly and Travers want their invention to be accessible to all grid operators, solar farm operators, and researchers. They’ve kept it as an open-source project, in order to encourage collaboration and scalability across the globe —  an impressive commitment that’s just one reason it was also nominated for the 2025 Startups 100 Sustainability Award.

The first stop on that world tour is India. Currently, 75% of the nation’s power comes from coal, but it has big solar and wind ambitions (it plans to install over five times the UK’s solar and wind fleet by 2030), creating an opportunity for Open Climate Fix to make a real impact.

It’s managed to grow an impressive rainy day fund already, having secured £500k from Google in 2021, and a further £125,000 from the UK government in 2023.

In the next half decade, Open Climate Fix plans to work with dozens of states in India and countries around the world to help make their energy more predictable. Turns out, you can