The Weesow-Willmersdorf project of Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) is being built on 164 hectares of land and is the largest solar power plant in Germany to date. At the same time, it is also the country's first large-scale PV project to be run entirely without incentives from the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG).
465,000 Duomax solar modules
For the solar park, Trina Solar is currently shipping more than 465,000 of its TSM-DEG15M.20(II) Duomax modules with 144 half-cut cells and up to 410Wp output. The first 18,000 modules have already arrived at the construction site and delivery will be completed towards November. The large-scale power plant is scheduled to be fully grid connected by the end of 2020 and can supply the equivalent of 50,000 households with clean solar energy. With a calculated annual production of 180 million kilowatt hours, the solar park will save approx. 129,000 tons of CO2 per year over a planned operating period of 40 years.
Subsidy-free installation
According to EnBW, the Weesow-Willmersdorf solar park is set to prove that projects of this dimension can be operated profitably even without feed-in tariffs. This has become possible particularly because PV system costs have fallen by over 80% in the last ten years. "Large-scale PV projects like this one are needed to further advance the transformation of energy systems. The Weesow-Willmersdorf Solar Park is a milestone in this respect", said Thorsten Jörß, Head of Photovoltaic Project Development at EnBW and Managing Director of the Weesow-Willmersdorf Solar Park. "We are firmly convinced that solar energy is competitive."
Combination of half-cut cells and multi-busbar technology
The Duomax module series offers high reliability even under harsh environmental conditions according to Trina Solar. Its dual-glass structure would eliminate most natural aging factors. Trina Solar offers an extended 30-year warranty on Duomax products; over their long lifespan, the modules also are supposed to deliver more power through a combination of half-cut cells and multi-busbar technology. - In addition, the new generation of modules uses lighter 2+2 mm glass and aluminum frames to simplify transportation and installation according to the company. (hcn)
