Schneider Electric promotes research with new Solar Camp at the PIIT
June 3, 2018
As second phase of innovation and development in Nuevo Leon, the French company Schneider Electric opened its Solar Park with an investment of 14 thousand million pesos, within the facilities located in the Research and Technological Innovation Park (PIIT.)
The first stage of the leader company in digital transformation of energy and automation management was opened 5 years ago with the construction of its building was how they started activities in the State.
The second phase of innovation and investment of Schneider inside the entity concluded with the installation of the 900 solar panels.
The president and general director of Schneider Electric for Mexico and Central America, Enrique Gonzalez Hass assured that with the new solar facility is sought to use renewable electric energy inside the campus. “One of our main vocations is electric energy and for us it is the element that we develop the best to make a more sustainable world and we would like to set the example with the installation of the solar field that allows us having certain grade of sustainability in the building.”
Likely, he noted how important Nuevo Leon is for the company, “the entity is essential for us, we have different investments and manufacture plants. Moreover developing the Mexican talent has got our attention for them to contribute in an active and global manner in the centers we have worldwide.”
The solar park has a maximum capability of 270 kW, it currently has 900 panels of 300 W each and nine investors connected to the electric network and the annual production of energy is up to 390 thousand kWh.
“This second phase can have other later stages, the area in which they are right now is of 4 thousand 800 square meters; however, we have a total extension of 12 thousand and can allocate other parts to generate another kind of clean energies,” thus was explained by Juan Agustin Arroyo Caballero, director of the Development and Innovation Center in Monterrey.
Arroyo Caballero also mentioned that the reduction of cost in electric consumption will be significant, “We have a laboratory that demands too much energy, solar panels will help us to reduce up to 20 % of the total expense of the two buildings we have in Apodaca.”
In addition the expert assured that they are working close with universities and detailed that some of the masters’ degree thesis threw some observations in energy storage. “We have to work hard in how to make efficient and effective storage; the cost of solar panels is decreasing, this indicates us that it has to reach a point in which batteries will also be profitable. Therefore this solar field will be focused on energy research and work as a laboratory.”
Innovation by stages
2013 Schneider Electric revealed its Development and Innovation Center in Monterrey, with an extension of 17 thousand 200 square meters, in which there is an office building and a laboratory.
In 2018 opens the Solar Park, in which is sought to perform beta tests of production and to study the functioning of monitoring software in solutions for energy management.