Logistics Center Cooled and Powered by Solar Panels

More than 2,250 solar panels of 270 watts each have been installed on the 6,500-square-meter roof of the logistics center in Cegléd of Gépész Holding that sells building engineering products. The new system produces the annual electricity demand of 160-170 detached houses – a smaller village if you like.

In 2017, the building services company decided to utilize the huge unused roof space, for which the installation of solar panels was the optimal solution.

They were definitely looking for a European module manufacturer, and their needs were best met by the Spanish firm Eurener, which has been on the market for 21 years. On the 6,500-square-foot roof, 98 strings were formed, each holding 23 pieces (22 pieces on two strings), each with a 270-watt, polycrystalline module.

Due to the load capacity of the roof, an east-west oriented support structure was used because less counterweight was required for this. In addition, the solar panels shade the roof, which means the hall heats up less in the summer and less is spent on air conditioning.

Naturally, a lot of inverters were needed for such a large amount of solar panels. The inverter converts the direct current produced by the solar cell into alternating current used in the grid, and this feeds the unused electric current back into the grid.

The system at the logistics center generates 700,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually and clears the environment of nearly 400 tons of carbon dioxide. This amount of electricity can meet the annual needs of 160-170 family houses.

Such an investment costs roughly HUF 150-180 million, and its return is more favorable than that of detached houses in 10-12 years.