Sinn Power and Recom have installed a 1 km long photovoltaic system on a conveyor belt at a German gravel plant using Sinn Power’s custom aluminum structure for conveyor belt applications.
Recom delivered 1,760 bifacial heterojunction modules to the project, of which the power of each module is 470 W. The total power of the group is 850 kW and it produces 877 W/m2. Sinn Power designed and delivered an aluminum installation structure for the project.
The aluminum structure can be used with conveyor belts up to 2.5 m high and is supported by concrete basements. Each installation structure is 5.5 m long and can hold up to 10 solar modules. Its wind power is 27.5 m/s (99 km/h) (WLZ3) and snow load 2.06 kN/m2. The mounting structure can be attached to the existing conveyor belt structure using the fastening system.
Recom stated that the conveyor belt photovoltaic system is designed according to Eurocode 1DIN1991-1-3 and Eurocode DIN1991-1, and that the verification of the structural stability of the system is performed by Finite Element Method (FEM) simulation and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis.
According to the companies, this innovative solution maximizes profitability by supplying electricity directly to the conveyor belt where it is needed, without compromising performance. The aluminum construction is robust and withstands environmental loads, while being easy to transport and install.
