The Germany-based bakery and confectionery company Seßelberg-Betriebs-KG relies on self-consumption of solar power. The company from the North German town of Neustadt/Holstein-Ostsee, started operating two PV plants with a total output of 99.5 kWp on the roofs of the administrative buildings and baking facilities several weeks ago, as announced by the bakers’ guild member and Hanwha Q CELLS today. The Seßelberg bakery is using the rooftop solar applications, constructed of Q CELLS modules, to reduce its operating costs. The self-consumption systems produce around 81,000 kilowatt hours of clean energy a year. This is enough to power about 20 homes yearly. The bakery uses over 80 percent of the total amount of electricity to run its baking facilities and for supplying power to its administrative buildings. In other words: even without a storage system, the plant still achieves a very high share in self-consumption. Plus, CO2 emissions are reduced by approx. 50 tons. The international PV supplier delivered around 400 high-performance Q CELLS Q.PRO G-3 solar modules of the 250 watt-peak (Wp) power class. The plant was constructed by installation company dibu energie, Jan Bruhn.
Hanwha Q CELLS is supporting commerce and industry in cutting their electricity costs and in taking an active role in climate protection. The project in the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein is yet another example. Master baker Andreas Seßelberg owns the plant and says, “For me, it’s about energy optimization. And about making baked goods using the energy of the sun.” Seßelberg, who holds a degree in Trade Business Administration, goes on to say, “We save 25 percent of the electricity costs in the long run.” Jan Bruhn, owner of dibu energie, headquartered on the island of Fehmarn says, “We chose to partner up with Q CELLS, because the quality is right. Getting ahead through innovation is more important than ever today.”
Fixed FiT are becoming less common in Germany and being phased out in Europe overall. At the same time, energy prices are going up, for example, in Germany. This is increasing the attraction of self-consumption of solar energy more than ever, especially since grid parity is attained in many countries. “We are pleased to be working productively with a company like the Seßelberg traditional bakery. We’re demonstrating that the use of self-generated solar power makes a lot of sense for a wide variety of economic sectors,” says Marco Schweitzer, who is responsible for Hanwha Q CELLS’ sales activities in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. “Despite the amendment of the Renewable Energy Act, we still see major opportunities for the self-consumption business model. With power from their own PV plant, the electricity costs of energy, commercial and industrial enterprises are dropping for the long term. We’ll resolutely expand this customer segment in the future,” adds Michael Geib, Hanwha Q CELLS’ Head of Sales for the DACH region.
The bakery uses its own grain mixes, prepares its own sourdough every day and relies on its own quality products.
