S M A R T FA C TO R Y
REMDA, GERMANY REFERENCE PROJECT - A 2MWP COMMERCIAL PV ROOFTOP PROJECT
The efficiency of Delta solar inverters was the deciding factor for GreenRock Energy.
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roject developer GreenRock Energy has installed a total of around 2MW of PV capacity on the roofs of three agricultural buildings in Remda, between Jena and Weimar in Thuringia, Germany. With the solar PV systems, the farmer wants to reduce his high electricity consumption and thereby lower his pig-breeding operation costs. From the end of 2019, two of the PV plants will feed electricity back into the grid at a fixed contractual price and the third plant will be used by the farmer for self-consumption. The size of the plants, 750 kWp x 2 for the grid feed-in and 500 kWp for the self-consumption, was deliberately chosen.
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Before the PV systems were installed, extensive preparatory work had to be carried out on the roofs. 6,000 square meter of the roof surface had to be completely renovated and freed of asbestos. After the roof renovation, structural insulated panels were installed. The installation of the solar PV system did not begin until this work had been completed. The many chimneys on the roofs were an additional challenge, as the associated shading meant that a lot of space for solar modules was lost. It was not possible to remove the chimneys.
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In just six weeks, the three agricultural buildings with a total roof area of 15,000 square meter were equipped with 7,500 solar modules, which came directly from the company’s subsidiary Greenrock Trina GmbH. Each of the Trina Honey polycrystalline modules supplies 275 watts from 60 cells. The assembly system for the solar modules consists of trapezoidal sheets and a substructure of 180 mm aluminium rails supplied by the German company, Saytec. The installation also includes 32 string inverters from Delta Electronics. Three power classes were installed: the M88H, the M50A and the M30A. The combination of inverters of different sizes serves the purpose of taking the special features of each roof into account and making optimum use of the roof surface. Competition and cost pressure has increased enormously in the solar industry in recent years. This means that every tenth of a percentage point of efficiency counts. Cost pressure applies not only to solar modules but also to other components such as inverters. The M88H was specially developed for use in large solar parks and is available in two connection variants. It has a maximum efficiency of 98.5 percent (EU value). “The M88H has one of the highest power outputs and is one of the most efficient string inverters on the market and ideal for large PV systems,” says Martin