Solar generator keeps Rotterdam pharmacy open

The problem

A pharmacy is an essential store and cannot simply close. Many people depend on a pharmacy for their health. So how inconvenient is it when a pharmacy runs out of electricity? This happened to BENU pharmacy de Dijken in Rotterdam, after they received a letter from grid operator Stedin that maintenance was going to be carried out on the electricity grid, which meant they would be disconnected from the grid for one working day. The pharmacy needed an alternative solution so that energy could still be used, away from the grid. Volta Energy is of course happy to think along with this and has a sustainable solution.

The objective

The objective is to provide the pharmacy with energy and of course in a sustainable way. In cooperation with Accommodation Management, Volta Energy provided a 15 kVa solar generator to a Rotterdam pharmacy for one day. A solar generator has many advantages over a conventional diesel generator in densely populated areas. For example, it makes much less noise and emits no harmful substances. Enough reason to put it to the test.

The challenge

A pharmacy cannot operate without electricity. In order to stay open without being able to use the power grid, its flexibility is being tested. In collaboration with Accommodation Management, the best solution was sought for this location, in the middle of the city. This is because the available space, the environment and all those living near the dispensary must be taken into account.

Contact us

The results

In general, we can say that using a solar generator becomes more and more interesting the longer it is used. You save every day over a longer period. Despite the fact that this involved only one day, or more precisely one eight-hour working day, we can say that the consumption costs of Volta Energy’s 15 kVa solar generator are lower than those of a conventional generator or an HVO B100 biodiesel generator.

In addition to the generation from the solar panels, responsible for 10% of the energy generation, the gain was achieved mainly thanks to the battery. This eliminated the need to use the emergency generator and thus the pharmacy was running on 100% renewable energy. This saved over 20% in costs, while also requiring over 13 liters less diesel than a conventional generator. In addition, over 43 kilograms less CO2 was emitted and about 0.06 kilograms less NOx. As a result, the residents of Rotterdam also benefited from the use of a solar aggregate.

Contact us