The Clarion Hotel Sign, located in the center of the Swedish capital, has this week connected its new 107 kW solar PV array to the grid. The system was installed by Swedish developer Nordic Solar and has been delivered to the Clarion Hotel by renewable energy firm Eneo Solutions under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
Installed on the rooftop of the hotel are 334 Q.PEAK DUO modules, which combine half-cut cell technology, six bus-bars and Hanwha Q Cells’ proprietary Q.ANTUM (PERC) monocrystalline cell technology, with efficiencies of close to 20% and power output of 320 Wp. The Q.PEAK DUO solar module was selected as the winning technology in the Photovoltaics category at the Intersolar Awards 2018 held at Intersolar Europe in June this year.
Affordable solar an increasingly attractive energy solution in Sweden
Stockholm’s hotel market is currently in the midst of something of a solar revolution. The Clarion Hotel Sign is the latest establishment of the Nordic Choice Hotel chain to adopt solar technology, and follows in the green footsteps of the city’s Yasuragi Hotel, Quality Hotel Friends and Quality Hotel Global.
The Clarion Hotel Sign will self-consume every kilowatt of clean energy generated by the solar array – an annual output that could typically meet the electricity needs of 37 local households. The installation’s carbon mitigation effect of 130 tonnes of CO² takes into consideration not only the solar generation but also the energy required to install, maintain and eventually decommission the system.
While Sweden, and indeed much of Scandinavia, has typically embraced wind and hydropower rather than solar, there is a growing understanding of the viability and affordability of PV across the Nordic region. The Swedish Solar Association estimates that around 30 MW of large-scale solar capacity is already installed in the country, with a pipeline of approximately 10 MW of new ground-mounted capacity in the works.
However, it is in the commercial and residential space where a great deal of activity is being recorded, thanks to a generous Swedish Energy Agency policy, that in 2018 provides more than $60 million (500 million SEK) in rebates for small-scale rooftop solar PV installations.
Michael Ronge, Head of Operations at Eneo Solutions remarked that, as Sweden’s solar market expands, it is crucial for the company to build long-lasting partnerships with suppliers such as Hanwha Q CELLS and developers such as Nordic Solar. “It is important for us to know that our suppliers can continue to be our trusted partners in both Sweden and across Europe, because we foresee a large increase in demand for both rooftop and ground-mounted solar systems,” Ronge said.
Sean Collier, Head of Sales for Scandinavia Hanwha Q Cells, added: “Sweden’s climate is actually considerably well-suited for solar PV. It has lots of sunshine in the summer and long daylight hours, so it is encouraging to see that both the government and forward-thinking companies, such as Eneo Solutions, Nordic Solar and the Clarion Hotel Sign, are positively supporting PV. It all points to a bright future for solar in Sweden.”
Henrik Berghult, the CEO of the Clarion Hotel Sign, said: “After the Yasuragi Hotel, Quality Hotel Friends and Quality Hotel Globe decided to go solar, it was obvious that we should also produce our own electricity from the sun. Throughout the life of the PV system we will save over 130 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is awesome!”
