Original article by Muzinee Kistenfeger. Read about the installation of a large solar farm in Bavaria, Southern Germany. Germany is a world leader in large solar installations, which provide an interesting comparison with small, domestic PV systems more common in this country.

Introduction

Solar power is getting bigger and better in Southern Germany. From the beginning of 2003, the Bavarian town of Hemau should be able to get its entire electricity supply from the sun. A large solar-farm of over thirty-two thousand photovoltaic panels has been built on a former army ammunition depot near the city of Regensburg. Some claim this is the largest farm of its type in the world.

Solar modules at Hemau. Photo courtesy: Voltwerk

Sections in this article

• A sense of scale

• PV elsewhere in Bavaria

• Where next?

A sense of scale

The solar-farm in Hemau consists of 40 photovoltaic systems composed of 32,740 modules, and will have a total output of 4 MW. It will increase Bavaria's solar energy production to over 72 MW per year, out of which 30 MW are fed into the public electricity grid.  This represents over 40% of the total German production of solar energy, which is estimated at some 173 MW.  Bavaria currently operates 17,000 of the 42,000 German photovoltaic facilities. The total cost of the project is calculated at around 20 million Euros and has been built by the Hamburg-based company "Sun Technics - Solartechnik".  SunTechnics estimates that its electricity production will be sufficient to cover the needs of the 4,600 residents of Hemau.  It will also help avoid the emission of over 82,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in the next 20 years.

Solar Farm being constructed.  Photo courtesy: Voltwerk

PV elsewhere in Bavaria

The solar-farm at Sonnen, near Passau, consists of 18 photovoltaic systems with a total of 10,580 solar modules.   It has a capacity of 1.75 MW and has been on grid since September 2002.  The project development company, the Stuttgart-based voltwerk AG, assesses the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 20 years at over 32,000 tonnes.

The solar-farm at Untergriesbach, also near Passau, has a capacity of 1.7 MW.  The € 7,5 million project is due to be completed at the end of 2002, by which time it will be connected to the local electricity grid.  The facility is composed of 11,178 modules.

The solar-farm at Marktstetten, which has been operating since November 2001, consists of 12 photovoltaic systems with a total of 12,672 modules.  It has a capacity of 1.6 MW and was considered to be Germany's largest "solar park" before the facility in Sonnen went on grid.  The project was also developed by the voltwerk company.

The roof-top photovoltaic installation at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre: the first series of solar panels was installed on the roofs of six exhibition halls in 1997 with a capacity of 1.05 MW.  This year, a further 7,560 solar modules were installed on 63,000m² of remaining roof surface, which increased the total capacity to 2.01 MW.  It is one of the largest roof-mounted photovoltaic installations in the world.

Where Next

On climateX.org

If you would like to know more about solar power we have a number of different articles based mainly on activities in the UK. ‘Introducing Solar Photovoltaics' is a good place to start.

External Links

Since this article was written, even larger installations have been made in Germany and elsewhere around the world. The largest is currently 12MW in Arnstein, Germany. Find out about the top 50 installations world wide at Top 50 large solar installations

The developer of Hemau, Voltwerk, now known as Epuron, has a website.