Solarstrom Grebs GbR, a German private investment company, has announced an ambitious plan to transform unused land [1] into a state-of-the-art solar installation in Brandenburg. This project aims to install a 922 kW community solar farm on 0.7 hectares of previously unused land, providing clean and affordable energy to approximately 250 households in the local community of Kloster Lehnin.
The solar farm will be strategically located near the A2 Motorway and will feature 2022 solar panels, leveraging SolarEdge’s advanced DC-optimized inverter technology. This technology will feed the generated solar energy directly into the grid, ensuring efficient distribution to residents and contributing to a forecasted annual reduction of around 360 tonnes of CO2 emissions. The project is currently under construction and expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025. Energiepark Brandenburg, a local installer, has been contracted to handle the photovoltaic system installation, operation, and maintenance.
Gregor Wölm, a representative of Solarstrom Grebs GbR, expressed enthusiasm about the project’s potential to supply renewable energy to a significant portion of the village during the summer months without overburdening the grid. He highlighted the high-yield forecast and the possibility of integrating a storage system in the future. Wölm also praised the collaboration with Energiepark Brandenburg and SolarEdge for their role in optimizing the system’s energy yield.
Thomas Wetzel, Managing Director of Energiepark Brandenburg, emphasized the importance of ensuring high energy yields and reducing operational and maintenance costs to secure the project’s economic viability. He specified using SolarEdge’s DC-optimized inverter technology, including Power Optimizers attached to each pair of solar panels. This setup ensures that the underperformance of a single panel due to soiling or shading does not impact the entire array, maintaining maximum energy yields.
Wetzel explained that the project’s design involved varying string lengths and minimal spacing between rows of modules, which reduces the required cable lengths and leads to significant cost savings. This level of design flexibility is not achievable with conventional solar systems. Additionally, the remote monitoring capabilities of SolarEdge’s Power Optimizers allow for efficient performance tracking and maintenance, further reducing costs and energy losses.
Robert Bruchner, Head of Sales and Marketing for Germany at SolarEdge, highlighted the project’s role in supporting Germany’s transition to Net Zero. He noted that community solar initiatives like this one are crucial for creating distributed energy networks, benefiting both grid operators and homeowners by providing lower-cost energy and more favorable economics for investors.
Sources:
[1] Solarstrom plans to covert land into solar installation https://www.energyglobal.com/solar/23122024/solarstrom-plans-to-covert-land-into-solar-installation/#:~:text=SolarEdge%2C%20a%20global%20leader%20in,installed%20on%20a%200.7%20ha.
