Two years ago, ADOX Fotowerke (and Fotoimpex) launched an investment programme aimed at achieving energy independence and becoming carbon-neutral in the medium term.
To this end, we have installed a combined heat and power (CHP) unit (currently using blue energy, with a view to H₂ in the future), a massive hot water storage tank, a 60 kWh buffer battery, and, most recently, a 70 kWp solar PV system.
Once all the components are wired up, we can theoretically deregister with the grid operator :-)
If the sun isn’t shining, the CHP unit kicks in and we use the waste heat to run the boilers and the heating system.
The heat is buffered via the water storage tank.
The battery storage system smooths out the day/night production of the solar system.
According to our calculations, we achieve an 80% self-sufficiency rate for electricity in summer with the PV system.
Over the course of the year, this stands at 50%.
Aside from the environmental aspect, this naturally also safeguards our production costs (energy prices).
Compared to the current grid tariff, we will save almost 80% on energy costs in future.
The whole system wasn’t exactly cheap, and we’re certainly pioneers in this field, but we hope these components will become more affordable in the future. If every medium-sized industrial business were to implement this, emissions could be significantly reduced – and capacity could be made available for those who don’t have these options (cities).
Best regards,
Mirko
