The C&I project, installed by Engie’s subsidiary Sun4business, includes solar panels from Dutch manufacturer Solarge that weigh just 7 kg/m2.
A 2.3 MW rooftop PV plant has been inaugurated at a Belgian factory owned by Sabic, a Saudi Arabia-based chemical company.
It was designed, financed and installed by Sun4Busines, the Belgian subsidiary of the French multinational utility company Engie. The factory has 4,600 PV panels made by Solarge, a Dutch module manufacturer opened its first factory in the Netherlands last year.
“Sabic sees the use of lightweight solar panels on industrial roofs as an excellent solution for companies that want renewable energy, but where their industrial roofs are not strong enough to support the load of the heavier glass-based solar panels.” Erik van de Grampel, Sabic business development leader, told pv magazine.
The panels cover an area of 13,600 m2 and weigh 7 kg/m2. They are lightweight due to the use of polymer materials instead of conventional solar glass components. The polymer material does not contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and was developed in a collaboration between Solarge and Sabic.
The panels are designed for recycling, with separable laminate layers, “so that all parts can be disassembled and reused,” according to the manufacturer.
“Solarge’s ambition is to accelerate the energy transition worldwide with sustainable, PFAS-free solar panels that are also recyclable at the end of their life,” said Jan Vesseur, CEO of Solarge, in a statement, adding that the company has the capacity is expanding in the Netherlands and the United States to focus on the C&I market, especially on weight-restricted roofs.
Engie Belgium’s R&D center, Laborelec, has identified the lightweight, circular solar panels as “best in class”, especially for roofs with limited load-bearing capacity, which are typically found on large factory buildings, said Vincent Verbeke, CEO of Engie Belgium in a statement.
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