Mega-Band Coldplay Takes Solar On Tour, Driving Portable Clean Energy

Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour is more than just music. It also promotes clean energy. Behind the scenes in 19 countries and 21 venues, 500 square meters of Kardinia Energy’s printed solar panels—lightweight, flexible, and fully recyclable—quietly generate power for the concerts.

This deployment is more than just a concert novelty; it shows a new plan for adopting clean energy. Live entertainment is becoming a testing ground for portable, low-impact solar power, illustrating how innovation can expand beyond stadiums to industrial rooftops, disaster relief efforts, and developing countries where traditional solar panels are too heavy or expensive.

“Printed solar allows us to cover that space with solar PV that’s perfect for touring,” says Luke Howell, Coldplay’s sustainability consultant and founder of Hope Solutions, in an email. “It’s lightweight, easy to deploy, and, along with our kinetic energy dance floors and power bikes, it gives us a way to demonstrate how alternative energy sources can reduce emissions on the tour.

“Wherever we can, we charge our 1.68 megawatt-hours tourable battery system from the grid or onsite renewables, which means we can dramatically reduce generator use and avoid fossil fuels,” he added, offsetting roughly 1,000–1,200 kilograms of CO₂ per show.

Coldplay has tried various renewable energy solutions over the years, from ground-mounted solar in Mexico to wind turbines atop delay towers. But Kardinia’s printed solar is a big step forward. The panels can be rolled out behind a stage to power the show, then rolled back up and transported to the next venue.

Kardinia Energy is a small Australian company founded in 2020, although the technology has been developed over the past 30 years. With the panels weighing only 300 grams per square meter, they are a fraction of the weight of traditional silicon modules, which usually weigh between 15 and 20 kilograms per square meter.

While they require about four times more space, they cost roughly ten times less, with a payback period of 12 to 18 months depending on local energy prices; each 500-square-meter installation can produce between 75 and 100 kilowatt-hours daily, enough to power the stage and support backstage operations.

All components are reusable, reducing e-waste, and the panels can be upgraded every 5–7 years — a “mobile phone plan” model that allows new inks to improve performance over time.

“It literally opens up the world to a different type of solar energy,” Anthony Letmon, co-founder and CEO of Kardina, told me. “It goes on a roof, it can go on the floor, it goes on the stage. We’ve been able to position this in real-world environments, powering shows while demonstrating portability, sustainability, and rapid deployment.”

Recyclable, Lightweight Solar Panels Power Concerts

Printed solar is manufactured using a roll-to-roll printing process on repurposed wine-label machinery, bypassing traditional silicon supply chains and enabling more localized panel production.

Beyond concerts, the technology has already been tested on industrial rooftops in Australia for four years, demonstrating durability and economic viability. According to Letmon, 2.4 gigawatts of industrial roof space in Australia alone cannot support traditional solar panels due to weight restrictions—a challenge Kardinia’s lightweight modules overcome. Disaster relief uses are also possible, with panels designed to be helicopter-transportable for emergency power needs, including water filtration, phone charging, and cooking.

Its low-cost and portable design makes it especially promising for developing nations, where heavy or expensive solar panels have been out of reach, providing a pathway to affordable, decentralized electricity.

The implications extend far beyond live music. Kardinia’s model shows how solar can be portable, modular, and part of a circular economy, addressing two key barriers to renewable energy adoption: infrastructure constraints and waste. With panels that can be deployed, rolled up, and redeployed, organizations from sports arenas to commercial rooftops—even emergency response teams—can harness clean energy without the heavy logistics of traditional photovoltaic installations.

“This is a blueprint for how music and science can disrupt the status quo and decarbonize live entertainment on a massive scale,” Letmon explains. “If it can work on a global tour with the logistical and environmental challenges that come with it, it can work anywhere. We can put it on a commercial and industrial roof and leave it there for four, five, or six years. Then we can come along and replace it with the next generation of printed solar, which uses better-performing inks. It’s sustainable, flexible, and continuously improving.”

As the Music of the Spheres extravaganza passes through Las Vegas, El Paso, Miami, and Boston, Kardinia’s panels will remain on the road, providing a tangible demonstration of what light, low-impact solar can achieve.

With Coldplay as a megaphone and Kardinia as a technical innovator, the partnership offers a glimpse of a future where renewable energy is not just installed, but performed, showcased, and normalized—proving that cultural influence and technological ingenuity can combine to reshape how the world generates power.

“We’d like to see solar PV used at every stadium the tour visits,” Coldplay’s Howell says. “The solar we take with us gives us that opportunity, and it’s encouraging to see more venues installing permanent solar systems.”

By taking solar on tour, Coldplay and Kardinia Energy demonstrate that renewable energy can be portable, scalable, and practical. The lightweight, flexible solar panels serve multiple purposes—from concerts to industrial rooftops to disaster zones, especially those areas where traditional panels are too costly or weighty.

As the band continues its worldwide tour, the performers entertain millions while promoting clean energy globally—a sight worth seeing and a cause worth applauding.