KEMPER to install an in-house solar power system in the Czech Republic

• Photovoltaic roof installation on manufacturing hall
• Tracking systems from in-house production
• Power generation for company production facilities and national grid

Vreden, March 08, 2010. Environmental protection in real life – KEMPER GmbH will be supplying its plant in Poříčí nad Sázavou near Prague with its own power while supplying surplus power to the national grid. The engineering company from Vreden, Westphalia, Germany will be installing nine KemTRACK 60, 70 and 80 tracking systems from its own production. The company has already installed a photovoltaic roof system with 1,320 solar modules last year. After the tracking systems have been installed, the company will have a total of more than 2,700 square metres of module area delivering a total yield of four hundred kilowatts at peak (kWp) generating around 380,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of power every year, with a potential of around 160,000 kWh for the Czech plant – including production and office powersupply.

“We’ve always placed a great deal of importance on environmental protection at Kemper,” said KEMPER GmbH CEO Björn Kemper. “We’d also like to set a good example by using our own in-house solar power system.” First of all, the company had to develop a sophisticated substructure with steel supports for the PV system on the manufacturing hall roof before fitting the solar modules at the Poříčí nad Sázavou site. KEMPER GmbH took on the development as a completely in-house project. “Our many years of experience in steelSeite 2 von 3 working from our core competency – welding and machining – really helped us in building the roof installation,” said Kemper.

From spring, the company will also be taking on the new in-house KemTRACK 60, 70 and 80 tracking system project. Each model calculates the exact position of the sun from location, date and time, ensuring perfect alignment at any time. The only difference lies in the size of the module surface area – 60, 70 or 80 square metres, depending on model. The Poříčí nad Sázavou installation will not only serve to generate power but also to make a point, according to Alexander Lenfers, Solar Technology Project Manager at KEMPER; “We’ll be showing a variety of technological options we supply for solar parks with tracking systems in the Czech Republic,” he said. “These include systems such as 24 or 230-volt power-supply, intelligent monitoring and safety concepts as well as independent power supply for motors and controllers using batteries.”

KEMPER GmbH launched its first Solar range products in early 2009 – the KemTRACK 60, 70 and 80 tracking systems. Having completed a solar park in the south of Hesse in Germany, the company now has a number of projects in planning. The next few years should see a significant increase in market share for this new field of business.