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Companies: Intech GmbH & Co. KG
Partner Institutions: German Energy Agency (dena)
Technology and service: energy container quipped with solar modules, including a battery, as a compact energy supply solution for remote locations

As part of dena's RES project France, the German company Intech GmbH & Co. KG has presented an energy container equipped with solar modules, including a battery, as a compact energy supply solution for remote settlements, villages, agricultural businesses, research stations and even emergency accommodation in areas that are not connected to the grid and therefore have to provide for their energy needs through self-produced solar power. The project has been funded by the Renewable Energy Solutions Programme (RES Programme) of the Energy Export Initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).

With a peak PV output of 10.54 kilowatts and a battery capacity of 24.15 kilowatt hours, the energy container was installed at an isolated organic farmstead in northern Alsace that has no connection to the public electricity grid. Here it is supplying energy for ventilating, heating and irrigating a greenhouse. The energy container also enables the farm to run an electric car. Intech has round-the-clock access to the installation via a monitoring and remote maintenance system, which enables it to read all operationally relevant parameters using the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), ensuring that faults are speedily rectified during emergencies. Additionally, a drone is also used to check whether all the solar cells are still working error-free, using a thermal imaging camera. This kind of thermographic check is required once a year by French insurance providers.

The system was developed by Intech mainly in order to replace diesel- or liquid gas-powered electricity generators with electricity generation from renewable energy source at locations remote from the grid. The plug-and-play system can be optionally combined with a drinking water treatment facility. Through this example, the company hopes that the installation will catch on in mainland France and, as a result, also be used in French overseas regions, where there is much greater potential for autonomous energy supply than on the mainland.

The project was inaugurated on 24 May 2019. Around 20 people took part in the ceremony, including Intech CEO Christoph Vollmer and dena Senior Expert, Sophie Heitz.

System Data

Installed output:	10.54 kWp
Module type:	Heckert Solar NeMo® 2.0 60 M 300 Wp
Inverter type:	2 SMA SUNNY BOY 5.0, 5kW, single-phase
Battery inverter type:	SMA Sunny Island 8.0H, 6kW, continuous output / 8kW 30 minutes
Batteries:	3 Batteries, BMZ, ESS X, 10.06 kWh (usable capacity: 8.5kWh), Lithium-Ion
Annual output:	10,600 kWh
Annual CO2 savings:	10.6 t