Innotech completes solar array for textile manufacturer
The Scandinavian-German manufacturer Innotech Solar (ITS) has supplied photovoltaic modules with a total output of around 2 megawatts (MW) to the Italian textile producer Limonta spa. Around 80 percent of the solar power generated by these modules is being used by the textile factories themselves, saving the company more than 250,000 Euros in electricity costs each year.
"Textile factories consume an enormous amount of power, which makes the prospect of being able to produce their own electricity so appealing to owners. Limonta spa, a leading Italian textile manufacturer established in 1893, is looking forward positively to the future by proving that investing in sustainability also makes great sense economically," explains Giuseppe Guida, Managing Director of the general contractor GM Solar, which constructed Limonta's photovoltaic installations using ITS modules. "We decided to use ITS modules due to the European production and the especially low CO2 balance. We were also won over by their exceptional quality and extremely high level of performance and since choosing to work with ITS modules, we have used them to construct four PV projects on the roofs of the textile group's buildings."
Two rooftop plants with outputs of 720 kilowatts peak (kWp) and 466kWp were put into operation on buildings belonging to the Limonta spa in Lombardy, Northern Italy, in 2013. In March 2014, based on the excellent performance of the first two systems, an additional two solar installations with outputs of 499kWp and 199kWp respectively were installed at the textile group's sites in Cologno al Serio and Costa Masnaga in the same region. The textile factories' production lines have been designed to enable them to immediately consume the majority of the solar power generated, meaning that no energy storage systems are required.
"In recent years, developments within the textile and solar industries have followed a similar path. Both sectors have seen increases in the internationalization of production and the globalization of markets as well as rapidly sinking prices, and the few companies that have been able to withstand these conditions are those that have implemented high-quality, sustainable production processes. We are therefore particularly delighted that the Italian textile producer Limonta spa has decided to install our European solar modules and that we were able to come out on top despite stiffcompetition from a number of major brands," states Emanuele Paese, Head of Sales & Marketing Europe at Innotech Solar.
Thanks to a particularly eco-friendly production process, photovoltaic modules manufactured by Innotech Solar have a carbon footprint that is currently around 50 percent smaller than that of conventional modules. After around only four months in operation, the modules have saved the same quantity of CO2 as is used to manufacture them. In addition to the innovative production process, the use of 100 percent renewable energy at the company's manufacturing sites in Sweden and Germany, as well as the short transport routes, improve the company's carbon footprint.
A multitude of tests conducted by independent experts, such as the Fraunhofer ISE and CSP Institutes, the Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin and PV Lab, have demonstrated the high performance, durability and positive environmental impact of Innotech Solar modules.
