16/08/2022

EZEQUIEL puts its faith in 8 PIKO CI for industrial self-consumption

Embutidos y Jamones EZEQUIEL is a food manufacturer, restaurant and shop in one and is now relying on solar energy and the PIKO CI 60 for its energy production. The Spanish company has connected eight PIKO CI in series to convert the energy generated by its 613 kWp solar panels into energy that it can use to run its businesses.

The company from Villamanín in Castile has a long history of producing food of the highest quality dating back to 1945 and is committed to constant innovation. It is also progressive in terms of energy generation and decided to install two roof-based photovoltaic systems. When it came to the inverters, it opted for the PIKO CI 60 from KOSTAL, eight of which have been connected in series by means of a daisy chain connection, enabling detailed monitoring. The PIKO CI inverter has been specially designed for small and medium-sized commercial applications and is therefore an ideal solution for a company like EZEQUIEL. Commissioning via the PIKO CI app simplified set-up thanks to the standard WLAN. Since the free app takes into account the guidelines applicable in the destination country, setting up in Spain is just as simple as it is in Germany or other countries.

The PIKO CI also has a convenient way of dealing with updates. It takes little more than one click and the master unit parameterises all connected inverters accordingly. Other benefits include 4 PPT trackers for maximum flexibility. In the summer of 2021, the Spanish government approved a package of subsidies worth €1.3 billion for solar systems, storage units and air conditioning systems for renewable energies, financed by the NextGenerationEU fund. With more than 3000 hours of sunshine a year, Spain has ideal conditions for a successful energy transition. DSPsolar, a Spanish trading company, asked what other subsidies are available and what else drove EZEQUIEL to install its photovoltaic system.

DSPsolar: What is the company's main activity and how much does your competitiveness depend on energy consumption?

EZEQUIEL: We are an agriculture and food industry company. Our main activity is the production of foodstuffs, but we are also active in the catering sector.

As a food manufacturer, we have many cold stores and drying rooms which consume large amounts of power, so any hike in the price of electricity means a significant increase in our costs, makingus less competitive on the market.

DSPsolar: Why did you decide on a self-consumption PV system? What is your approximate monthly consumption in kWh?

EZEQUIEL: We have two facilities, one in Villamanín de la Tercia and another in La Robla. Together they have an average consumption of around 420,000 kWh per month.

Our decision to install a self-consumption system can be mainly explained by the volatility of the electricity market in recent months, where uncontrolled price increases have had a direct impact on our profit and loss account.

DSPsolar: Why did you choose the PIKO CI from KOSTAL?

EZEQUIEL: The KOSTAL PIKO CI offered us the best combination of price, performance and flexibility. We were also looking for an inverter that was robust, durable and safe. We are thinking about investing in batteries in the future. And the PIKO CI has sufficient connections for this. What’s more, the system can be very easily extended using KOSTAL’s PLENTICORE BI battery inverters. Another reason is that KOSTAL is compatible with a large number of well-known storage unit manufacturers. That is why KOSTAL is the first choice.

DSPsolar: Have you taken advantage of any government funding?

EZEQUIEL: We have submitted our investment project for subsidies paid out to projects for processing and marketing agricultural and food products (NA2 line) and this has been approved.

2022