Helping to become energy independent in the event of a power failure
Sustainable solution to help effectively manage company energy in a safe, efficient and reliable manner
"By implementing xStorage into our system, we have seen a significant drop of about 90% in our electricity usage thanks to the self-consumption of sustainable energy from photovoltaic sources."
Background:
Since 1973, Comptoir Electrique de Sarrebourg has specialized in the installation and sale of electrical equipment, providing quality advice to its customers. Following its expansion in 1983, the company was divided into two areas: business and consumer sales and professional installations.
Challenge
The main challenge was to find a solution that was cost-effective, easy to implement and which met the company's need for self-sufficiency and security.
As a result, the proposed solution had to be self-contained and enable the company to become energy independent and self-sufficient in the event of a mains failure, while maximizing the environmental and financial impact. To achieve this, a storage system had to be added to the photovoltaic control panel on the roof to maximize the benefits of self-consumption.
It was therefore essential to choose a high-quality, environmentally responsible solution that met all the company's requirements, included a "back-up" function to overcome sudden power outages and continued to support the various energy needs of the site. The choice of solution then came about naturally.
Solution:
Comptoir Electrique de Sarrebourg needed a sustainable solution to help it effectively manage its energy in a safe, efficient and reliable manner.
It was decided to implement the xStorage Home and xStorage Building solution within the company's various departments. These systems are capable of storing the energy produced by photovoltaic panels so that it can be used on demand. Alternatively, these systems can even redistribute energy to the public grid.
The entire installation consists of Eaton products (AC and DC protection, energy distribution and the human-machine interface [HMI] to control the system). Everything is powered by a 40-kWp photovoltaic array on the roof terrace and by an Eaton xStorage Building 60-kWp storage system to maximize self-consumption.
Results
In order to check that the solution was working correctly following implementation, the product was subjected to a set of real-life tests, including mains failures. It was therefore possible to see how the system was meeting expectations following installation and commissioning.
Since then, Comptoir Electrique has measured a significant drop in electrical consumption (about 90%) and has been able to benefit from as much uptime as possible during mains failures.
"Eaton's xStorage solution has already allowed us to continue to be supplied with electricity while a general blackout, following a storm, deprived the commercial area in which we are located of power" says Stéphane Cordier. “We were able to continue working during two hours in good conditions until the power came back on”
In addition to the many measurable benefits such as reducing electricity bills and CO2 emissions, the company was able to calculate a return on investment that would be achieved within a decade.
This complete installation was thus able to meet the various expectations of Comptoir Electrique de Sarrebourg in terms of self-consumption and energy independence.
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