17
Sep

SUNfarming wins innovation award

SUNfarming was awarded the Innovation Prize for Intelligent Energy Solutions at the Chint Group conference with over 600 participants from 140 countries.

The Global Summit on Market Innovation and Development, hosted by CHINT, China's leading smart energy solution provider, held in Wenzhou from 9-11 September, focused on "Global Energy, Smart Interconnection". The event aimed to explore the challenges and opportunities facing the energy sector while providing a platform for the demonstration of new and innovative products.

The event attracted scholars from academic institutions, industry experts and leading players from over 140 countries, as well as CHINT's business partners across the globe. Participants gathered to discuss and share expertise on industry trends and critical issues. Highlighted discussions include the keynote speeches on CHINT's innovative milestones in the Industry 4.0 era, energy storage & solar, smart grid, smart meter as well as low voltage fields.

10
Sep

With SF Food & Energy against climate change

With SUNfarming Food & Energy Greenhouses in parallel producing solar energy and producing food safety on the same land area is the aim of a German-African research project involving SUNfarming and Forschungszentrum Jülich, which funds the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with around two million euros.

"Africa is a key partner in the fight against climate change, with the aim of enabling Africa to deal with the consequences of climate change, but it is also about a new partnership for sustainable energy supply." In the project YESPV-NIGBEN, German know-how is being developed helping to improve the food supply in West Africa, we are using research and innovation to support sustainable business models and perspectives for the people in their home countries of Nigeria and Benin, "said Research Minister Thomas Rachel.

With the three-year project YESPV-NIGBEN ("Earnings analysis and socio-economic impact assessment of photovoltaic-assisted food production and drying in the tropical climate of Nigeria-Benin"), researchers from Nigeria, Benin and Germany are contributing to solving this problem To reduce land use conflicts between agriculture and energy production, combined "photovoltaic greenhouses" are developed for the cultivation of fruits and vegetables. The photovoltaic system adapted to local conditions allows power to be generated for the greenhouse and the local utility grid. Greenhouses are the basis for a predictable, continuous production of food. At the same time, drying systems are operated with solar energy, and ventilation and management systems are developed. The goal: to make local crops more effective than before. Thus, surpluses can be processed in large quantities.

"We were in Nigeria and Abuja in August at the Kick Off Meeting“, explains Holger Schönherr, SUNfarming project partner. "Every fifth inhabitant of Africa is starving. Heavy rainfall periods alternate with extreme drought. In Nigeria and Benin enough food can be produced, but the distribution and preservation represent two of the major problems. Thus 60% of the crops rot at harvest time. At SUNfarming, we are convinced that we can contribute to food safety through sustainable energy and drying processes with Food & Energy plants, "Holger Schönherr continues.

When handing over the funding certificates: (from left) Prof. Uwe Rau, Director of the Institute of Photovoltaics, Dr. med. Solomon Agbo, Corporate Development, Board Member Prof. Harald Bolt, Mobolaji Sakirat Ogundero, Deputy Nigerian Ambassador to Berlin, Secretary of State Thomas Rachel MdB, Peter Schrum, SUNfarming, and Prof. Ulrich Schurr, Director of the Institute of Plant Sciences
Copyright: Forschungszentrum Jülich / Ralf-Uwe Limbach

3
Sep

11 megawatt SUNfarming solar parks in Poland on the grid

After the completion of the first 4 megawatt solar parks near the Ostroleka coal-fired power plant at the end of last year, another 7 megawatt SUNfarming solar parks in Poland were connected to the grid in June 2019.The latest investments make SUNfarming with 11 megawatts of existing portfolio one of the largest solar investors in Poland.

SUNfarming successfully completed seven new projects in the auction system. The latest projects are located in the provinces of Lower Silesia, Greater Poland, Lodz and Lublin. These are three 1-megawatt solar parks erected in the Lask district of Lódz, as well as four 1-megawatt investments in the provinces of Dolnoslaskie and Lubelskie. In line with the auction commitments, all seven solar parks started producing energy in June.

"We are happy about another 7 megawatts of clean energy for Poland. We thank all involved for the efficient and professional cooperation. With a planned PV capacity of 1.2 GW by 2020 with currently only about 360 MW of installed capacity, Poland represents an important future market for us, "said Martin Tauschke, Managing Director of SUNfarming GmbH and SUNfarming Polska sp.zoo.. "Further,we were able to secure 35 megawatt solar parks during the auction process in November; the planned investments are to be completed by the end of 2019 / beginning of 2020. However, we do not want to rely only on the Polish auction process, but also rely on PPA's (Power Purchase Agreements) for the development of larger projects, "explains Martin Tauschke.

The Polish auctioning system of procurement and an internal policy based on renewable energies allow SUNfarming as a medium-sized company to support the expansion of renewable energies and to make profitable investments in Poland. SUNfarming started the construction of the first 4 megawatt solar parks in Poland at the end of December 2018. By winning the tender, all PV parks benefit from a 15-year "contract for differences" with the Polish Energy Agency URE, which guarantees a fixed feed-in tariff for each kWh produced by paying the difference to the market price.

Photovoltaics is becoming increasingly important among renewable energy sources in Poland as it is the cheapest energy that can be obtained with existing technologies. In addition, the use of fallow land and soils with low soil quality spares agricultural arable land.