In Germany, municipal energy and drinking water provider RheinEnergie recently connected to the grid a 320 kW PV system made of Q CELLS solar modules on the roof of a storage building belonging to the Cologne-based waste disposal and recycling company Abfallentsorgungs- und Verwertungsgesellschaft Köln mbH (AVG Köln).
Hanwha Q CELLS delivered 1,280 high-performance Q.PRO G-3 solar modules with a 250 W rating for the system. The solar plant will produce approximately 290,000 kWh of electricity per year which will be completely fed into the public grid. This is enough to power around 90 homes and to prevent approximately 145 tons of CO2 emissions each year.
A 320 kW solar energy plant on the roof of a waste incineration plant.
“We are relying on power from renewable energies and have made it our goal to expand our portfolio of photovoltaic systems,” says Thomas Zerres, head of renewable energies (bio and solar) with RheinEnergie. “In order to secure our solar plants’ economic viability for decades into the future, we are very careful to only use high quality PV modules. The Q CELLS solar modules are produced in Europe. Having seen the results of the demanding VDE tests and in light of their long life, we are impressed.”
The new plant in Niehl is RheinEnergie’s 16th photovoltaic system, and half of those are located in the Cologne municipal area. In total, the systems have a production capacity of 18,065 kW.
“In collaboration with our affiliate RheinEnergie in the utility group holding company, we are operating the new photovoltaic system and thus making a significant contribution to protecting the climate and saving resources,” says Andreas Freund, spokesperson for the management of AVG Köln.
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