The organic restaurant La Sal Varador on the beach of Mataró in Barcelona Province is breaking new ground with Conergy’s aid. With the feed-in permission obtained, the path is clear for the first Conergy plant in Spain that will be competitive without any subsidies, combining own consumption with connection to the grid. During the Spanish moratorium in the summer, system supplier Conergy had set up this pilot project in collaboration with its two installation partners Eco 100 and SolarTradex to demonstrate new possibilities for Spain’s solar future with the grid parity in mind. The conclusion is simple: solar is also a cost-effective choice without subsidies in cases where a substantial amount of power is required during the daytime.

Jiménez: “Solar power is already competitive – with the right installation size and power.”
“This is the first project of its kind in Spain,” said Luis Jiménez Gutierrez, managing director of Conergy Spain. “The solar sector is moving away from an investment-driven market towards a genuine energy market, where the important criteria are availability of electricity and the price of every kilowatt hour. With this project, we can show very clearly that solar power is already competitive today, especially for businesses and companies that can consume the solar energy they generate themselves during daytime. In this scenario, the objective is no longer for the plant to be as large as possible but for it to be matched precisely to the customer in order to optimise electricity generation and consumption behaviour.”

95% private consumption during daytime, savings of up to 30% compared to grid power
For this purpose, the solar experts from Conergy recorded and analysed the restaurant’s consumption behaviour and the load profiles for several weeks ahead of the project and then sized the plant precisely to ensure that it would produce the maximum possible own consumption ratio and therefore electricity cost savings for the customer. The 8-kilowatt rooftop plant on the energy-efficient restaurant building will not require any subsidies. This means that although the 126 square metre plant will feed any surplus electricity into the local grid it will not receive any payment for this. The objective is therefore clear: The owners of La Sal Varador intend the restaurant itself to use 95% of the around 10,700 kilowatt hours of solar power generated on the roof in future. This means that it will need to draw hardly any power from the grid during the day, which would otherwise cost them around 15-17 euro cents per kilowatt hour. The cost of generating the electricity with the rooftop plant (Leveraged Cost of Electricity, calculated for a period of 25 years), on the other hand, is for the restaurant’s case around 10.1 euro cents, which means that the restaurant operators will save 5-7 euro cents per kilowatt hour. At night, they will continue to draw power from the grid. But thanks to their small rooftop plant, they will still be achieving an autonomy level of 20 percent.

La Sal Varador goes for energy efficiency, green electricity and high-quality organic food
In the future, La Sal Varador will also do justice to its role as an organic restaurant where electricity is concerned. The energy-efficient building is already equipped with water saving features and an energy-saving cooling system. “We are very proud to be in the vanguard through our involvement with Conergy’s innovative pilot project,” said Ricard Jornet, owner of La Sal Varador. “We have committed ourselves to sustainability with our restaurant. To this end, we insist on high quality, durability and, above all, environmental compatibility at our beautiful location directly by the sea. The solar plant represents a further element of our overall concept, allowing us to use green electricity for our restaurant in the day and reduce our electricity bill at the same time. But above all, we will also reduce our vulnerability to future electricity price rises.”

Highest quality through corrosion-resistant and salt-spray tested components
Where the system components were concerned, restaurant owner Jornet insisted on quality as well. The 34 Conergy PowerPlus modules on his roof are ideally suited to the challenging environment of the salt-laden sea air on the Costa del Maresme, south of the Costa del Sol, having successfully proved their resistance to salt spray. And the PremiumPlus Guarantee means that the restaurant owner receives an all-round worry-free package. The Conergy SunTop mounting frames are also corrosion-resistant and durable, while the Conergy IPG T inverter is one of the most efficient in its class and was rated “A+” when tested by Photon magazine.

Connection to the grid in November: organic beach restaurant will get even “greener”
Now that the feed-in permission for the intended feed-in point has been obtained, the way is clear for the new Conergy project to go ahead, and the solar experts will install the system over the next few weeks. According to the schedule, the own consumption plant is to be connected to the grid mid-November, making La Sal Varador yet another bit “greener” and even more “organic”. www.conergy.us