PV power: From the roof directly into the (alternating) battery
One way to optimize self-consumption in intralogistics is to use self-generated photovoltaic electricity. It is often more cost-effective to use the PV energy directly for one’s own purposes instead of feeding it into the power grid. For own use, it is not always necessary to install a battery storage system as an intermediate buffer, which stores the generated energy and releases it later. Instead, PV power can also be used directly to charge the battery by using alternating batteries.
PV power for self-consumption optimization
More and more companies are taking advantage of the sustainable option of generating electricity from solar energy with the help of a PV system and using it for their own intralogistics, e.g. for charging traction batteries in electric vehicles. In some cases, it makes sense to use a lithium-ion battery storage system to temporarily store surplus generated PV energy and make it available when electricity demand is particularly high or there is no sunshine. However, in order to charge electric vehicles with PV electricity, the purchase of such a cost-intensive battery storage system is not always necessary, since traction batteries can also be charged directly with PV electricity.
“Battery change”
One challenge here is that PV power is generated during the day when electric vehicles such as forklifts or lift trucks are in use, so they cannot be charged at that moment. So the PV energy gained would theoretically be lost if no batteries were available for charging.
The solution is to use a standard battery as well as an alternating battery: While the vehicle is driving with the standard battery, the alternating battery can also be charged during the day when the sun is shining with the PV power generated by the vehicle itself. When the removable battery is fully charged, the standard battery in the vehicle is replaced by the removable battery. This changeover system means that the vehicle is immediately ready for use again; at the same time, the standard battery can now be charged with the surplus PV power. Therefore, if it is foreseeable that there will be a surplus of energy in a certain period of time, the energy consumption can be increased manually by charging the battery that is not currently in use. In doing so, the integrated timer in our ALLtrac® Plus chargers can be set so that charging takes place exactly when the most PV energy is produced.
And how do I know how many removable batteries I need?
In a first step, we prepare a detailed analysis for our customers regarding their vehicle fleet and the traction batteries used. By means of a load curve analysis, we also determine how high the electricity consumption is during certain periods and how much PV energy is left over at the same time and would remain unused. The resulting calculation, in turn, provides information on how many exchangeable batteries are required in addition to the standard batteries to absorb the excess PV energy. So by combining our expertise in industrial batteries for intralogistics with our knowledge of the use of regenerative energy, we can recommend to our customers precisely the solution that is optimally designed for their application and gets the most out of energy.
Contact now
You have a PV system on your roof and would like to use such an exchange system to make the best use of the PV energy for your purposes? Then we will be happy to support you.
CHRISTIAN HÖSL
Account Manager
Blei-Traktionsbatterien
+49 8374 24124-61