Former landfill is used to produce solar energy

"Enough power will now be produced to be able to cover the energy needs of the entire town," revealed Artur Deger, director of DEGERenergie, in his opening speech. In total 190 kWp are installed on 1.5 ha. 54 TOPtraker 8.5 single-axis tracking systems with a maximum module surface of 8.5 m² and 12 DEGERtraker 7000 NT two-axis tracking systems with a maximum module area of 60 m² have been set up. 

"The Rexinger solar park should generate about 300 MWh of power per year. An electric car the size of a VW Golf can drive about three million kilometers with this much energy," explained Artur Deger.

Due to the patented sensor controller of the solar tracking systems, yields up to 45 % higher can be achieved relative to systems with fixed installation. This could also be confirmed by Karl Hagen from Altheim. Approximately 10 years ago, Artur Deger installed one of his first tracking systems in Hagen’s yard. The fixed-installation modules on his roof allow precise comparisons to be made and confirm this increased yield 

In his speech, Regional Administrator Peter Dombrowsky labeled Artur Deger as "a pioneer for tracking solar systems." His business idea arose in a garage at a small site in Kreis Freudenstadt. From this grew an international operation with a sales volume of approximately 40 million euros for 2008. About 90 % of this volume is generated in the export business.

In Germany, to create solar parks you have to fight with the building laws. "In contrast to wind power systems, solar systems are not classified as privileged," lamented Lord Mayor Michael Theurer in his greeting. Although the DEGERtrakers visually fit very well into the landscape and the plot of land can also be used as a sheep pasture, for example, the solar systems may not be set up on any "open countryside." For reasons of building law, only commercial areas are normally considered as locations. However, here most property prices are too high for the investors. Due to these limitations, a suitable location to realize the planned demonstration system was sought together with the mayor’s office of Horb und the district office of Freudenstadt. A solution was found, even if the bedrock is not very optimal and resulted in a structural modification of the foundation, and before the beginning of construction only an arrangement with the resident model flyers had to be made. This did not represent a large problem, though. DEGERenergie is now pleased to be able to present additional demonstration systems to investors from around the world.