Mercedes-Benz powers manufacturing plant with safer solar system
As a peerless global luxury automobile brand, Mercedes-Benz has nearly 300 locations worldwide that comprise all the elements of the automotive industry, from passenger cars to buses and trucks. In Turkey, the company has manufacturing facilities for buses, trucks (already with a 5MW PV system powered by SolarEdge) and spare parts, and other operations, including an IT hub and an after-sales services network.
Background
As a peerless global luxury automobile brand, Mercedes-Benz has nearly 300 locations worldwide that comprise all the elements of the automotive industry, from passenger cars to buses and trucks. In Turkey, the company has manufacturing facilities for buses, trucks (already with a 5MW PV system powered by SolarEdge) and spare parts, and other operations, including an IT hub and an after-sales services network. With the scope of vehicle production that Mercedes-Benz represents worldwide, the company takes its climate goals seriously and is looking to establish operations that use renewable energy and other climate-friendly options whenever possible.
The Challenge
For its Turkish operations, Mercedes-Benz Türk developed a “Green Goals Project” to reach a carbon neutrality target by 2030. Meeting this goal means reducing their Co2 emissions by 2,916 tons, in part by using renewable energy. Over the next few years, Mercedes plans to implement sustainable systems to align their operation with their climate initiative and at the same time strike a balance with safe working conditions at their facilities. This means that any renewable energy system they would use would require industry leading safety features as well as efficient energy production and management.
Environmental Savings Equal to:
The Solution
When a traditional string inverter system has uneven sunlight caused by shading, soiling, and module mismatch, it can lead to energy losses as the system throttles to the level of the weakest panel. To maximize energy generation, Mercedes wanted an efficient system powered by Module Level Power Electronics (MLPE) technology.
Mercedes was impressed by SolarEdge’s MLPE technology featuring Power Optimizers that enable real-time adjustments of current and voltage to find the maximum working point of each PV module mitigating mismatch related energy losses. They also appreciated how these components enhance the safety of the entire system by enabling module-level safety features like arc fault detection and SafeDC™. With this in mind, Mercedes implemented a SolarEdge system in 2019 for a 100 kWp pilot application at the Hoşdere bus production facility in Istanbul and recently have added a 3.47 MWp implementation at their spare parts facility in Esenyurt.
Multi-Facility Management, Module-Level Visibility
When running a sizeable installation across multiple sites, module-level monitoring is essential to verify performance and simplify maintenance. With the SolarEdge Monitoring Platform, Mercedes receives automatic fault detection, real-time alerts, and analysis that tracks site performance down to the module level for easy reporting.
Installation at a Glance
“SolarEdge’s integrated safety feature SafeDC™ was one of the main reasons why we at Mercedes-Benz Türk preferred SolarEdge. It is one of the most effective and efficient brands in the market in terms of minimizing occupational safety, fire and similar risks with module-level monitoring on our rooftop solar power plant investment.”
Alaattin Dik
/ Mercedes-Benz Türk Electricity Operation, Maintenance, and Energy Management Unit Manager
