Delhaize Demonstrates Environmental Commitment with World’s Largest Solyndra Installation

Solyndra International AG, a subsidiary of Solyndra LLC, announced completion of a 3MW rooftop solar system in Zellik, Belgium. The 3MW rooftop installation covers a Delhaize distribution center in Zellik, a Brussels suburb. The project was completed by solar integrator U|S|E AG, a Solyndra Platinum Solution Provider based in Reutlingen, Germany, with its Belgium subsidiary Enerdeal.

Delhaize, an international supermarket chain with more than 2,800 stores worldwide, and 805 stores in Belgium and Luxemburg, is a winner of the Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Belgian multi-national has committed to reducing its CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020, and rooftop solar is a part of its strategy.

“Having worked with Solyndra on previous installations, the choice of supplier was an easy one,” said Denis Knoops, senior vice president business and concept development and new business opportunities of Delhaize Belgium. “The innovative panel design allows us to maximize the installed capacity, reducing our CO2 emissions by 600 tons annually on these distribution center roofs alone. We have a strong commitment to achieving environmental goals, and Solyndra ensures those goals become a reality.”

The Zellik installation consists of more than 17,000 Solyndra solar modules covering 34,000 square meters of roof space and generates an annual yield of approximately 2,400 MWh, enough to power more than 700 households.

Supermarkets and distribution centers are typically some of today’s largest flat-roofed commercial buildings, making them ideal for the installation of solar panels. Solyndra’s innovative solar module design allows the panels to be oriented in any direction with minimal effect on the levels of generated energy.

Using copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) and thin film technology, the modules generate electricity from direct, diffuse and reflected sunlight. USE added a white Sure-Weld thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) roof membrane from Carlisle SynTec to simultaneously maximize reflected light capture and further reduce costs through building cooling.

“We are very happy to be able to help Delhaize to realize the economic and environmental potential of their rooftops,” commented Clemens Jargon, Solyndra’s president of EMEA. “This installation bears testimony to our desire and ability to engage with large scale distributed energy projects at a time when more and more corporations are seeing the hidden value in their fixed rooftop assets. Solyndra technology allows them to meet their environmental goals and delivers great results to their bottom line.”