Cooperation with an innovative solar company
PV-T solar panels produce electricity, as well as hot water that we can use to wash the LPG cylinders, which is an improvement over the cold water method we previously used. To make sure we used the best possible panels, we worked with one of the most innovative solar companies around, called Solarus. Solarus panels have a parabolic reflector that can capture sunlight from a variety of angles, as well as double-sided PV solar cells that capture both direct sunlight and concentrator-reflected sunlight. Overall, we installed a total of 70 PV-T solar panels and a 6000 litre solar tank at a safe zone inside the filling plant area. The system was complete in April of 2017, and our total installed capacity is now 16.8 kW of electricity and 84 kW of thermal energy.
Reducing CO2 emissions by 25.3 tonnes
Now, we can remotely monitor system production via the Internet. By the end of the year (after nine months of use), we managed to produce 9.857 kWh of electricity and 47.058 kWh of thermal energy. Put another way, we supplied 22% of the plant’s electricity consumption for lighting, and we supplied 100% of the thermal energy for hot water. As a result of producing 56.915 KWh of solar energy in total, we reduced our CO2 emissions by 25.3 tonnes. Washing the cylinders with hot water also improved the quality of their exterior surface significantly.
Expansion to other plants
The project’s next steps will be to integrate our water heating system in the filling plants in order to decrease gas consumption. We are currently working on a relatively small project in our Konya filling plant to integrate two PV-T panels into the plant’s water heating system. After we assess the resulting production we will expand the project to our other filling plants.
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