Regional utility firm Stadtwerke Heidelberg and PV project developer Conergy are collaborating to construct a 1.1MW PV array on a landfill site in Feilheck in Heidelberg, Germany.
The plant will also represent Stadtwerke Heidelberg’s first large-scale PV plant.
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As the general contractor, Conergy is responsible for the planning and engineering of the plant in addition to the implementation, construction and supply of components.
The project is equipped with 4,464 PV modules installed on bespoke mounting systems which have been tailored to suit the local conditions. As a result, the mounting frame has been installed so that it is not driven deep into the ground as standard mounting frames are but instead are anchored using special steel positioned at an angle. The anchoring depth has been limited to a maximum of 50 centimetres, thus keeping the landfill site intact as well as ensuring the required stability on the inclined terrain.
Commenting on the project, Felix Gudat, Head of Renewable Energies at Stadtwerke Heidelberg Umwelt stated: “The solar plant on the Feilheck landfill site is our 50th plant overall and also the largest to date. With a total capacity of around 2,643 kilowatt we shall be achieving an annual CO2 reduction of some 1,255 tonnes with our solar plants by the end of the year.”
At the end of 2011 Stadtwerke Heidelberg had installed 40 plants and in 2012 it installed an additional 10. Its interest in PV in the past couple of years is being spurred by the company’s Energy Concept 2020 which aims to supply 100% non-nuclear power by 2017.