Riksbyggen's Largest Solar Plant Makes Housing Complex Self-Sufficient in Electricity During Summer Months

• Rooftop system forecast to provide 100% of residents’ energy requirements during summer and approximately one-third annually, cutting annual carbon emissions by 650 tons

• Innovative SolarEdge inverter system chosen for its ability to maximize energy production, increasing financial savings for residents for heating and EV charging costs

25th October 2022 – Riksbyggen has inaugurated its largest solar PV installation to date, at 1050 kWp, at the Opalen Housing Association complex in Norrköping. The plant, which is based on SolarEdge photovoltaic (PV) technology, will have 2,600 solar modules and cover 5,200 square meters when fully deployed in 2023. The installation is expected to make the Association self-sufficient in electricity during the summer months. On an annual basis, about one third of the electricity demand is expected to be met by the solar plant.

The Opalen complex consists of 37 houses with 649 apartments close to the centre of Norrköping. The decision to install a solar solution followed requests from the residents who wanted to help the environment as well as mitigate rising energy costs. SolarEdge’s innovative Power Optimizer solution was chosen for the project to maximize energy production – crucial to increasing financial savings for residents – while also providing real time production data that will enable them to use the energy produced onsite more efficiently.

“There is great interest in environmental issues among the residents. However, installing a solar system on the complex also makes good financial sense,” says Håkan Johansson, chairman of the Opalen Residents’ Association. “We will be self-sufficient in electricity during the summer months and save 40-42% during the rest of the year. This will mean a substantial cut in energy bills for the residents, while the Association will receive a return on its investment in just 10 years. Further, the solution also allows for an expected increase in electric vehicle ownership, with EV charging points installed as part of the project.”

The SolarEdge solution maximizes energy production from solar arrays by enabling each module to work at its own maximum efficiency. This is achieved using Power Optimizers which are attached to each pair of modules to enable independent operation. Unlike traditional string inverter systems, this ensures that should the performance of one or a few modules become impaired – for example due to shading or soiling – the rest of the array will continue to operate at maximum efficiency.

"The module-level visibility also means we are able to monitor the output of each module in the array and detect any technical or performance issues in real time," says Henrik Ahlin, Marketing Director at Vallacom, the contractor chosen to install and maintain the solar system. "This is a great advantage when troubleshooting. Otherwise, there is a high risk that underperforming panels will not be detected, resulting in significant lost energy production."

The SolarEdge system will also be used to help residents to make smart decisions about how and when to use the solar energy produced onsite. Data from SolarEdge’s advanced monitoring platform will be displayed on a screen in the complex’s community center to show how much energy is being produced in real time.

“Using the information, residents will be able to see at what times the solar modules produce the most energy. They can then modify their behaviour and, for instance, charge their electric vehicle or use the washing machine at times when electricity is plentiful,” says Robin Asp, Riksbyggen’s Project Manager.

“Charging electric vehicles with power straight from the solar panels is a very efficient way to use solar energy. Depending on how electric vehicle ownership develops over the coming years, we are ready for various scenarios and have prepared the electrical installation accordingly,” he concludes.