Nov 24 2010
A French natural cosmetics company has launched two solar power plants with outputs of 101 and 2.69 kW respectively, in October 2010, in Bleu Vert, near Avignon. For the launch, a total of 600 guests were invited, including journalists, politicians, suppliers and customers, along with close neighbors and also project partners. The guests were allowed to mount a crane, to take an overhead visual projection of both the PV units.
A Swiss manufacturing firm, Sputnik Engineering’s three inverters convert the direct current into alternating current, utilized on the grid. The PV power plants were installed by a French company, PV Luberon, (Photovoltaique du Luberon) in Bleu Vert’s 1900 square meters warehouse and office space, along with other sophisticated equipment. A sewage treatment unit has also been built along with a heat pump, which is environmentally friendly, to supply a controlled and pleasant climate indoors. A regulated ventilation system improved by heat recovery is installed, to supply fresh air. The front of the building is constructed out of golden-yellow stone. The building’s environs include a 7000 square meter space used as a garden, with a pond used as an educational aid.
Many monitors which endlessly show the solar power production and the energy consumption are placed in the seminar rooms and in the reception area of the cosmetics company. The total annual production by the two PV plants comes to 140,000 kilowatt hours. PV Luberon’s Managing Director, Gilles Flavien, has stated that the technical support, warranty coverage and product quality of the Sputnik Engineering inverters was excellent. He further mentioned that the company had also plans of using Sputnik Inverters in Cave de Bonnieux, a winery, their next big project.
Sputnik Engineering manufactures grid-connected solar inverters, under the name SolarMax, with long life and superior efficiency technology. This company with its headquarters in Switzerland and subsidiary companies in Italy, Germany, Spain and France, and branches in Prague and Brussels, employs around 330 people.