Greenbuddies Tips - April 2024
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Market Footprint 1Q/2024
In our quarterly Market Footprint Reference Report, we will present our currently completed projects in the EU and our domestic market - the Czech Republic - for the first quarter of 2024. We will also introduce you to the upcoming projects, which are currently under construction.So read on and download our report!
Dear solar friends,
Below you will find a link to our quarterly document, which in English we call Market Footprint. We chose this name years ago to show that our primary interest is to leave a deep footprint in Europe's green transformation. And we are increasingly succeeding. We are gaining strength in the Czech market, even though many of our competitors are talking about stagnating demand, and abroad we have completed projects in five different countries: in the traditional Netherlands, Germany, and France, as well as in the growing countries of Finland and Hungary.
Although the Hungarian market is not a top priority for us, we have recently completed a series of photovoltaic plants at supermarkets near the capital. The project was particularly challenging because its preparation had already begun before the COVID-19 epidemic, which meant having to cope with radical price fluctuations in materials. In the Czech Republic, we have recently completed several major photovoltaic power plants at CTP logistics centres built for CEZ ESCO, our customer.
In the next quarter, you can look forward to information about the completed projects of our foreign partner SENS and our large customers Soltech and Solnet. We are also completing other projects in the Czech Republic, of which we particularly appreciate the cooperation with Fashion Arena in Štěrboholy, Prague, where the installation of ultralight photovoltaics on the roof of the shopping centre is underway.
I wish you a good reading, and if you have any ideas, please email me at ales@greenbuddies.eu.
Yours,
Chief Sales Buddy
Aleš Spáčil
Dynamic German market with photovoltaics and carports
Germany is one of the most important markets for us in terms of installations. There is a growing interest in photovoltaic systems, which is supported by government subsidies and other programs. Demand for PV is not limited to rooftop installations, but is also expanding to freefield areas and, in particular, to solar carports with charging stations for electric vehicles. We asked our German sales manager Johannes Pohle what the trend for solar carports in Germany is, the current market development, and the expected changes in the coming months.
Generally speaking, the demand for PV systems in Germany is steadily increasing. This is also due to the subsidy programs in the field of photovoltaics. In my case, the PV sector is divided into rooftop systems, free-standing areas, and then carport systems and charging infrastructure, with the share of rooftop systems being the largest at the moment, but the demand for free-standing areas is also growing steadily, at least among my clients. And carports and charging systems are still relatively new, but we are already seeing demand for those as well.
In 2023, Germany became once again the largest solar market in the EU, leading in both annual and total installations with an increase of 14.1 GW during the year. The cumulative increment in Germany is now at 82.1 GW. This leading position has placed Germany not only at the top of the EU solar market year-on-year but also as the largest contributor to total capacity. The country is expected to continue to play a leading role in solar deployment among EU member states, with further installations of around 80 GWp planned by 2027.
As far as the carport and charging infrastructure sector is concerned, many federal states currently support the construction of solar carports and, on the other hand, also require that new public car parks be covered by solar carports with a minimum number of parking spaces. In some cases, however, this requirement can be circumvented by planting a certain number of trees at a certain distance in a given parking area.
In general, however, it can be assumed that the trend is upwards and that over the years carports will become more and more covered. Such tendencies are already being observed among clients, although this trend is not yet as developed, as the implementation of a solar carport is a relatively large construction project that involves many administrative and construction legal hurdles, and the comparison of the amount of investment compared to the time before the investment costs are recouped is still quite large.
I'm definitely seeing a growing trend for many companies to switch to renewables, especially in light of rising electricity prices. They want to become pioneers and trend-setters in this area. At the same time, we can assume that this direction is also an attraction for younger generations.
Repowering: renewing PV plants for higher efficiency
Since 2017, when Greenbuddies was founded, we have been delivering repowering services for older photovoltaic installations across the EU. These projects are primarily based in Germany and Italy, but there is a high potential for achieving higher efficiency in older PV installations throughout Europe. What exactly is repowering, what are its benefits, and what does the process of PV repowering entail?
Repowering means replacing parts of the components, most often solar panels and inverters, with newer and more efficient ones. This situation can arise in several cases where a power plant no longer meets the expected requirements. These include the aging or failure of components, their destruction or theft, or significant technological leaps.
Accelerated degradation of the panels is also considered as damage to the panels. The threshold for what is normal degradation and what is abnormal has been set by the German Network Agency at 10% after 10 years of operation. Panel replacement is therefore possible under several conditions, the main ones being:
The repowering process: How old solar systems are changing and Greenbuddies' experience with repowering
We have already carried out several repowering projects where all the panels on a solar power plant have been replaced. In practice, this means dismantling the old panels and preparing them for removal. The panels must not be destroyed to make it sensible to take them for disposal. Next, new DC cabling must be prepared, as the new, more powerful panels have different string lengths, and new panels must be laid on top of the old structures. As a rule, the structures have to be partially modified. Before starting the work, we need to find out what can be reused and what cannot — in particular, fragments of old cables that run in the ground, panel clips that tend to be rusted, etc.
In terms of time, a major repowering project can be said to take about the same amount of time as building a new power plant. Instead of assembling the structure, it takes a similar amount of time to dismantle the old modules and adapt the structure to the new installation. Laying the new panels takes a similar amount of time using new cribbing. In addition, new DC interconnections are made. The main construction advantage of repowering is the fact that it is not necessary to do new AC, especially the HV part.
With new, more efficient panels, the same power plant needs less space, and if there is sufficient spare transmission capacity in the grid, then the spare structure can be used for a completely new PV plant expansion, which is no longer covered by repowering as it is a new construction. For example, we have implemented a repowering where the original capacity was 5.7 MW, and after replacing the panels, 1.5 MW of new capacity could be added to the free structure, i.e., 25% more capacity. See the photos for other reference repowering projects we have completed.
Repowering vs. Revamping: Making more efficient use of existing solar installations
Increasing PV production while maintaining the original installed capacity is called revamping. This is a special case of repowering, where the installed capacity of the solar plant remains unchanged, but the production of the existing PV system is maximized by replacing fixed mounting structures with dynamic trackers that constantly adjust the angle of the panels to align with the daily path of the sun. Typically, old panels are also replaced with new ones in this option. This modification significantly increases the exposure of the panels to sunlight, which improves energy capture and therefore the overall efficiency of the PV plant. Switching to tracker systems is a strategic step to maximize the performance of existing PV installations.
At Greenbuddies, we provide complete advice on optimizing the performance of an existing solar power plant. Our team will evaluate the current state of the plant components, propose a solution, prepare the necessary project documentation, and ensure all communication with the necessary authorities. We will resolve the performance problem of your PV plant as soon as possible to avoid further financial losses.