Press release March 22, 2023
Solar power for supermarket chain
SENS equips twelve discount supermarkets in Switzerland with photovoltaic systems
Würzburg/Essen. Iqony Solar Energy Solutions GmbH (SENS) has installed and commissioned a total of around 4,000 photovoltaic (PV) modules with a total capacity of 1.5 megawatts (MWp) on the roofs of twelve supermarkets in Switzerland. The supermarkets are located across the whole of Switzerland. This means that in future around 120,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy will be available per store each year.
Fitting out supermarkets with solar energy systems makes sense in a number of respects. On the one hand, the buildings, which are usually constructed with flat roofs, offer good structural conditions for the installation of a photovoltaic system; on the other hand, a great deal of electricity is consumed in supermarkets for cooling, air conditioning and lighting. A PV system provides a noticeable reduction in energy costs directly at site and at the same time reduces CO2 emissions.
“Supermarkets are particularly energy-intensive, but are generally ideally suited for the use of photovoltaics due to relatively flat roof pitches. It is therefore our ambition to equip our customers’ roofs with solar systems as efficiently and demand-responsively as possible,” says Fabian Herr, COO of SENS.
Rapid installation
The installation and cabling of the PV modules at the twelve sites was completed in a very short time as part of a precisely planned rollout. This was followed by the installation of the inverters and the grid connection: “Within ten weeks, a total of twelve systems were completed and all the solar modules and cables were installed in a very short time,” Fabian Herr explains.
One challenge was the differing conditions on site, with anything but homogeneous structural requirements: “From monopitch roofs to gable roofs to green roofs, there was everything at the twelve locations. In practice, this meant different technical solutions for the installation in each case, but thanks to our broad experience, we were prepared for it all,” says Fabian Herr.
White paper on “Suitable roofs for photovoltaics”
Are you interested in a photovoltaic system for your commercial property? Then download our whitepaper entitled “Suitable Roofs for Photovoltaics” and learn more about the economic potential and the structural and technical requirements associated with a rooftop PV system.
