WKNÖ Expert Talk at EWS Sonnenfeld in Bruck/Leitha

Taking solar power production to a new level is entirely in the spirit of Wolfgang Ecker, President of the Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce: "We are doing everything we can to be and of course remain an attractive business location. It is therefore inevitable for our companies to consider the expansion of renewable power generation plants. There are already remarkable projects in Lower Austria, but we have to push security of supply and energy independence even more strongly and, above all, more quickly."

In order to give more expression to this demand, the Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce recently invited people to a tour of the EWS Sonnenfeld in Bruck an der Leitha, followed by an Expert Talk.

Power from the farm, designed in Austria

EWS Consulting GmbH has developed the EWS Sonnenfeld® as a special Agri-PV variant with tracked sun catchers and with the least possible loss of land on good grassland and arable land and implemented it for the first time on the 5.5 ha site together with Energiepark Bruck GmbH and with the support of the Climate and Energy Fund (Klima- und Energiefonds). Further projects are already being planned and implemented, one of which is the EWS Sonnenfeld in Pellendorf, which generates clean electricity as a hybrid power plant from wind and agri-photovoltaics.

EWS GF Wolfgang Neuhofer: "The main yields of wind power are generated in the winter months, while the peak yields of solar energy are achieved in the summer. Therefore, the two also complement each other very well, can be implemented quickly and cheaply, and require little space in relation to the amount generated."

Compared to PV ground-mounted systems, 80% of the area of the EWS Sonnenfeld® is used for growing food, 18% is used as flower strips and bee pastures to increase biodiversity, and only 2% of the area is covered with PV components.

Forward-looking energy supply

Oliver Eisenhöld, chairman of the energy trade section of the WKNÖ, definitely sees a technology of the future in the agri-PV system: "This combination of agriculture and energy production can be an important module for supplying our province with sufficient energy. In times of climate crisis, it is a matter of exploiting all potentials that can contribute to achieving climate neutrality."

In the course of "Mission 2030", the share of photovoltaic installations in Lower Austria is to increase by 350 percent. Friedrich Manschein, the provincial guild master of electrical, building, alarm and communication technicians, knows what effect this will have: "Although the photovoltaic modules are largely not produced in Austria or Lower Austria, the installation of PV systems creates respectable added value in our province."