These days, energy efficiency and economizing on electricity consumption are two particularly preoccupying topics, especially for large companies. This is also true for the IKEA Group: when opening their new store in Alfafar (Valencia, Spain) last year, they made a clear commitment to renewable energy and signalled their intention to turn the new building into a real benchmark in terms of environmental sustainability.
The solar energy installation for photovoltaic self-consumption located on the roof of the building is one of the fundamental pillars of this policy of sustainability. The system has a potential of 115kW and consists of 460 Axitec AXIpower 250 solar panels. It was constructed using materials supplied by Grupo Electro Stocks via the wholesale company Krannich Solar.
Axitec Solar is a German manufacturer of solar panels with branches in Europe, Asia and America. Their solar generators are among the few on the market which offer a 12-year product guarantee. These photovoltaic panels demonstrate their exceptional quality in large-scale projects.
The installed Axitec solar panels produce 172,000kWh of solar energy per year, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 22 Spanish households. In addition, the photovoltaic system prevents the emission of 116 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere when compared with carbon generation. And on the other hand, this self-consumption photovoltaic system also serves to power a geothermal system which regulates the temperature inside the building and enables energy savings of 30% for air conditioning and 88% for heating.
The Axitec solar panels used in this self-consumption installation have the backing of the two distributing companies, Grupo Electro Stocks and Krannich Solar Spain, who in April of this year concluded a commercial agreement to work together, thus increasing their sphere of influence. Thanks to our alliance with Grupo Electro Stocks, we were able to be a part of the important project generated by the opening of the new IKEA store in Valencia. It was a real challenge, and an honour, to contribute to the creation of a building like this, which without a doubt provides a model to follow in terms of energy efficiency, said Jochen Beese, Managing Director of Krannich Solar Spain.
Both Krannich Solar and Grupo Electro Stocks have expressed their interest in continuing to work with one of Europes largest furniture chains, and helping them to become increasingly sustainable.
