― ENVIRONMENT ―
― ENVIRONMENT ―
ECO -LOGIC
Self-sufficiency In all, 386 solar panels have been installed on the roof of Elite’s manufacturing facility in Aubonne in the canton of Vaud. With total a surface area of over 750 square metres, the panels generate 175 MWh per year, enough to provide power for 39 homes , as Julien Frossard, engineer and project manager in the photovoltaic department of Société Électrique des Forces de l’Aubonne (SEFA), the contractors responsible for the installation, explains. The new power output will completely offset the entire electricity consumption of the site’s production workshops and offices. Some of the power produced will even be dispatched into the grid. Applying our values In addition to energy self-sufficiency, the installation allows Elite to apply its values in terms of sustainability and ecology once again, providing customers with products manufactured using low-carbon electricity. While conventionally-produced Swiss electricity corresponds to average emissions of 120 g CO 2 /kWh, solar panel installations account for emissions of just 40 g CO 2 /kWh on average, thus saving the planet 80 g CO 2 / kWh, the equivalent of 14 tonnes of CO 2 per year. Widespread enthusiasm Elite has been preparing for the installation of these panels for the past three years. Amid energy shortages and skyrocketing electricity prices, consumers and companies alike are increasingly turning to installers to fit similar power production facilities on their roofs. “If everybody followed their example, the energy transition would be much easier,” says Julien Frossard. The engineer has just one slight regret. “Ten years ago, these installations were much more expensive, putting some people off, but there could have been more uptake three years ago when prices were more competitive,” he says. To make matters even more complicated, there are now shortages of some components in the wake of the pandemic, such as inverters.
ELITE LOWERS ITS CARBON FOOTPRINT
In a further demonstration of Elite’s sustainable development policy and our commitment as an economic stakeholder to tomorrow’s world, our factory roof is now home to over three hundred solar panels.
An economy for the planet of 80 g CO 2 /kWh
Text - Sophie Franklin, Picture - © Sophie Franklin
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