The international company Mounting Systems GmbH has supplied the organic restaurant La Sal Varador at Mataro, located in Mataro, a suburb of Barcelona beach, with the Alpha fastening system for its on-roof solar system. The special about the restaurants solar installation: It is the first grid-connected private energy system from Conergy in Spain that is competitive without any subsidy.
Along with its partners for installation, Eco 100 and SolarTradex, Conergy was responsible for the planning and execution of the Spanish pilot scheme. The project reveals new opportunities for Spain's solar future in the context of grid parity. Solar can pay for itself even without a subsidy when a lot of energy is required during the day.
In mid-November 2012, the private energy system is expected to be connected to the grid, and La Sal Varador will become even greener. Tost: "Solar power is developing into a competitive energy market" "The project shows that solar power is already competitive today. This is true for any business with a high demand for electricity during the day. This development will continue, opening up entirely new perspectives for the solar industry in the long term", says Helge Tost, Director of Sales and Marketing at Mounting Systems.
95 per cent of private energy in the day and up to 30 per cent of savings compared to power from the grid The eight-kilowatt-on-roof system on the restaurant's energy efficient building is not subsidised at all. This means that although the 126 square meter system feeds surplus electricity into the local grid, this is not reimbursed by the Spanish state. The future objective is very clear: The owners of La Sal Vara-dor would like to consume 95 per cent of the approximately 10,700 kilo-watt hours of solar power produced on the roof themselves.
This will mean that they need practically no energy from the grid during the day. The latter, in turn, would cost them around 15-17 Euro cents per kilowatt-hour at that time. With around 10 Euro cents, however, the electricity production costs of the restaurant's roof installation are lower (Leverage Cost of Electricity calculation, assuming a service life of 25 years).
The restaurant's owners will be saving around 5-7 Euro cents per kilowatt-hour. At night, they will continue to take their power from the grid. Thanks to their on-roof system, they will achieve a degree of self-sufficiency of 20 per cent. High quality thanks to a corrosion-resistant and durable frame system When it comes to the system components, Restaurant owner Jornet is focused on quality. The Mount-ing Systems Alpha fastening system is suited to the climatically challenging environment of the Costa del Maresme. In defiance to the salty sea air, the aluminium material ensures corrosion-resistance and durability there too.
"Faultless operation, low maintenance costs, high quality and the durability of components alongside with the availability of power and purchase costs are of increas-ing importance. Particularly with regard to fastening systems such as the Alpha, they constitute the solid foundation of any system. The more durable and high-quality the fastening system is, the lower the maintenance and repair costs and the higher the availability of electricity will be", Tost continues.
The Alpha is universally-deployable for roof-parallel mounting of solar installations on pitched roofs. The installer can quickly mount the system without cutting due to the use of aluminium base rails and the patented Quickstone and telescoping technologies system. The pre-assembled components help facilitate deployment at the building site and reduce the fitting time.
La Sal Varador values energy efficiency, green electricity and high-quality organic cooking La Sal Varador now proves its credentials as a green restaurant with its electricity as well. The energy-efficient building is already fitted with water-saving devices and a low-energy cooling system. "At our restaurant, we have devoted ourselves to sustainability.
The solar installation was another piece of the puzzle in our overall concept. It allows us to use green energy for our restaurant in the day while low-ering our electricity bill at the same time. Above all though, we will be less dependent on rising electricity prices in future", says Richard Jornet, owner of La Sal Varador.
