Installation of 5 photovoltaic canopies with electric vehicle charging at Top Cable

Summary

Top Cable is a company that manufactures electric and fibre optic cables. It has six production centres, five located in the vicinity of Barcelona and one in Aragón, and its headquarters are in Rubí. There, a charging station was designed and installed to promote sustainability, reduce its carbon footprint, promote the use of electric vehicles and significantly reduce its consumption from the electric grid.

Description

The headquarters of Cable Top, a company that manufactures electric and fibre optic cables, are located in Rubí. The strategic sustainability plan of the manufacturer of electrical cables revolves around four main areas: renewable energies, recycling, reduced energy consumption and responsible packaging. Its plan was to install photovoltaic canopies to charge electric vehicles at the car park of the company's headquarters.

The initial idea was to electrify all the spaces, but with conventional chargers, the cost was high. Circutor designed a model for that project that eventually became a product of the company: the PVM4 double canopy with an EV charging point integrated into the structure itself.

This solution is ideal for connecting medium and large parking areas covered with solar photovoltaic panels, where it is important to observe certain aesthetic considerations. This canopy maintains the construction characteristics of the PVS family, offering a lighter solution with a Magnelis surface finish.

Capacity

For this project, 234 parking spaces were specified, covered by five dual photovoltaic canopies where the EV charging system was integrated. In total, the installation serves 156 electric cars. Of the five canopies in this installation, four of them are PVM4 M48T (67 metres) and one PVM4 M42T (58 metres).

Given the large number of parking spaces to power, the only viable solution for the project was to integrate the charging system into the very structure of the canopy, something that would have been impossible without the collaboration of the different companies of the Circutor Group. The cable for charging electric vehicles was placed outside the canopy at the express request of the client.

The canopies installed have significantly reduced the consumption of electricity from the grid thanks to the over 700kWp generated. It also provides charging systems for electric vehicles, both those in its own fleet and those of its employees.

The canopies have a photovoltaic installation of 1,722 410-Wp models, which together supply 706 kWp. There are also 5 Goodwe GW120K-HT inverters, 5 String Box 24-12-12 and one CombinerBox T-0-0-5-1000-300-RV.

The project has boosted electric mobility at Top Cable. Assuming an average EV consumption of 15 kW/100 km, the 156 charging points can power 6 million kilometres of driving each year, all using solar energy.

Impact

Monitoring

In order to view and manage the use of charging points and the electricity produced by the canopies, the Cosmos app was created, based on the platform by the same name. It provides access to a vehicle charging log and has a reader to let users identify themselves when using the charging points. This application has been a success, and it has also been added to Circutor.

A DLM manages the power output of the Top Cable installation. When a new vehicle parks so it can be charged, the system calculates if there is sufficient current. If there isn't, all the charging points connected will be adjusted to supply enough power to the new vehicle.

Conclusions

The installation of five photovoltaic canopies with electric vehicle charging at Top Cable has provided a successful example of sustainability and savings. By generating solar energy and integrating electric vehicle charging stations, the carbon footprint has been reduced, significant energy has been saved and users have been encouraged to adopt electric mobility. Features and functions have also been adopted for application in future Circutor installations.