ENERPARC, Europe's leading solar power plant developer, constructor and operator, has developed a battery storage system for night-time power compensation for ground-mounted solar plants in collaboration with the Lower Saxony start-up NAEXT. The first four "Quadragons" installed on existing ENERPARC systems are running smoothly - the test phase of the storage cubes has been successfully completed.
The Quadragon addresses one of the central challenges of ground-mounted solar systems. These generate electricity when the sun is shining - i.e. during the day and in large quantities, especially at midday. This leads to a high load on the public power grid, meaning that the feed-in has to be limited in some cases - solar power that is not fed in is lost. On the other hand, the systems' own components, such as transformers, require energy at night, which has to be drawn from the grid. This is why ENERPARC's innovation team has been working on battery storage systems for several years now, as demand for them is increasing in line with the expansion of renewable energy systems.
Armin Scherl, Head of Innovations at ENERPARC: "When we first met NAEXT around two years ago, the idea of developing a battery storage system that is tailored to our needs in the planning and construction of our solar parks was quickly born. After one and a half years of joint development, we are very satisfied with the performance of the Quadragon."
Henning Behn, co-founder of NAEXT GmbH, adds: "For us as a start-up, it was incredibly helpful to have ENERPARC's innovations team at our side, who provided us with support throughout the entire development phase. Together and with the expertise of the solar park developer, we succeeded in developing a scalable concept. It enables us to integrate our battery storage system into PV parks quickly and easily."
The storage system has the size of a 10-foot container and can be easily expanded on a modular basis. A special feature: the Quadragon uses second-life car batteries with a capacity of 600 kilowatt hours. The storage system is connected on the AC side and can therefore use the solar plant's periphery to compensate consumption up to medium or high voltage level, depending on the solar plant's connection. The Quadragon can also use its own periphery to charge electric vehicles on the DC side with 120 kW currently and 240 kW in the future. This dual use of existing infrastructure creates a valuable additional benefit. The offer of a fast-charging point is particularly interesting for rural areas, where ground-mounted solar systems are primarily installed. Expensive fast-charging points are often not worthwhile in such areas.
"Storing the solar power generated is one of the biggest challenges of the energy transition. We have solved one problem with the NAEXT Quadragon. It allows us to cover our solar parks' own energy requirements at night. The storage system can also provide reactive power, which we can feed into the grid to maintain the voltage. The integrated fast charging point for electric cars is an additional side effect that allows us to pass on our own solar power at very favorable conditions in the spirit of the mobility transition," Scherl continues.
About ENERPARC:
The international specialist for solar power plants in the megawatt segment is active as a developer, constructor, operator and investor of large-scale solar power plants. Founded in Hamburg in 2008 and not listed on the stock exchange, the company currently employs over 500 people and is active in Spain, France, Portugal, India and Australia in addition to its core market of Germany. In recent years, ENERPARC has successfully connected more than 650 solar power plants with an output of over 4,500 MW to the grid worldwide - around 3,500 MW in its own portfolio - and has become one of the largest independent power producers for solar energy in Europe. ENERPARC's goal is to develop a total of 10 GW of PV systems for its own portfolio and a further 10 GW for third-party solar portfolios worldwide by 2030.
About NAEXT:
Thanks to our employees' many years of design experience, NAEXT knows how products should be - and how they shouldn't be. Predetermined breaking points and limited options for adapting to new challenges are a guarantee for short service lives. To maximize the life cycle, products must be robust and adaptable. A largely modular design is of central importance.
Since 2021, NAEXT has primarily been involved in the development and production of battery storage systems. The focus here is clearly on sustainability, starting with the selection of materials and supply chains.
The two systems Hexagon and Quadragon use batteries from overproduction in the automotive industry to store energy.