Are you looking for a new location to install your solar panels? According to Swiss and German elected officials and engineers, a wall is more than enough, but not without taking some precautions.
In the renewable energy category, solar is all the rage and photovoltaic panels are popping up almost everywhere. In fact, they can be installed anywhere, from the roof of a house to the Nevada desert to the body of a car.
So, to find new spaces where to exploit the light emitted by our star, imagination seems to be the only limit.
Occupy little-used spaces
Imagine: you are in the north-east of Switzerland, in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, and you are traveling along one of these typical roads of this very hilly country. Suddenly you notice that the retaining wall on your right is a bit unusual. It takes a while for your brain to recognize the unusual appearance of the thing, but you have just come across solar panels erected vertically on the side of the road.
To achieve its objective of producing at least 40% of its electricity from renewable sources, the canton adopted an original approach by installing 756 photovoltaic panels on this area which is usually little exploited. With a power of 325 kW, they offer an energy yield of around 230,000 kWh per year, or the consumption of nearly 52 Swiss households.
Unusual specifications for an atypical project
While these figures are much less impressive than those of the installations we regularly talk about at Clubic, this project was not without its challenges. Indeed, the two groups which carried it out, K2 Systems and Solarmotion, had to demonstrate ingenuity to attach such a work to a structure which was not initially intended for it.
Tilted at 75 degrees, the solar panels were anchored to a mounting rail using special screws and mechanical anchors. To avoid weakening the retaining wall, the engineers had to limit the anchoring depth to 90 mm, which is not much when you know that there is a road just below. Finally, due to the proximity of the asphalt, certain components had to undergo special treatment (anodization) to better resist corrosion.
A concept that could be democratized?
So was all this work worth it? According to K2 Systems, “ During the winter months (when consumption and dependence on foreign electricity imports are highest), vertically aligned modules will achieve very good efficiency “. For its part, the canton will be able to resell the electricity produced to the local supplier.
If the angle of the panels here is far from optimal, it should allow them to better resist Swiss winters and snow. Will this be enough to interest other municipalities in implementing similar projects? Maybe. But, in the meantime, it is indeed other places that we think of first when it comes to electrical installation, even in a vertical position.
Source : Electrek
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