Sawmill goes carbon neutral thanks to large rooftop installation of Honey PV modules
Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) ("Trina Solar" or the "Company"), a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic (PV) products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, has announced the completion of the first large-scale rooftop PV system in Switzerland to use the Company's high-performance Honey modules. The system, deployed on the roofs of Sagewerke Christen AG's production and storage buildings in Luthern in the canton of Lucerne, has an installed capacity of 900kWp and produces up to 6,000kWh of solar energy per day. This makes the company the first self-sufficient and carbon neutral sawmill in Switzerland.
The 6,000 square meter PV array is made up of 3,576 multicrystalline PC05A Honey solar panels rated at 260 Wp each. The modules themselves are integrated into the roof and thus provide weather protection for the building; ready-made aluminium plates ensure a waterproof connection between the individual modules. Since July, the system has been delivering not only sufficient electricity for the sawmill, but also the equivalent of the electricity requirements of 300 households - a combined total of 900,000kWh per year. Sagewerke Christen AG owner, Bruno Christen said, "With the new solar power plant and our two existing wood co-generation plants, we save more than 3,000 tons of CO2 every year. That is twice as much as the emissions from our two sawmills in Luthern and Willisau."
The project in Luthern was developed by Kusnacht-based SunTechnics Fabrisolar AG. "We teamed up with Trina Solar because their modules have an excellent degree of efficiency," says SunTechnics CEO Felix Maag. "The Swiss market has very particular requirements. Apart from high module output, qualities such as top performance in low-light conditions and a high snow load are key. Trina Solar products really stand out when it comes to meeting these requirements." During snow load testing, Trina Solar exposes its products to 10,800 pascal of pressure, while IEC standards merely require 2,400 pascal. The special surface texturing of Honey cells ensures optimized light absorption even at low levels of daylight.
Trina Solar's European headquarters is in Wallisellen, Zurich. Ben Hill, Head of Europe at Trina Solar, said: "We are very pleased about this successful project for Sagewerke Christen AG in collaboration with SunTechnics. Conditions in the Swiss solar market are quite demanding, and their decision to work with Trina Solar confirms the high quality of our modules and their suitability for the local conditions."