Solar roof generating power for Swiss DC

Gebrüder Weiss has commissioned a solar power system that generates 40 percent of the power needed to run the DC it’s built on.

In October this year, the company commissioned its latest photovoltaic (PV) system at its Swiss location in Altenrhein. The system has an installed capacity of 270 kW peak, saving 20 tons of CO₂ annually. This is enough power to could supply nearly 55 single-family homes with electricity.

“The roof of the logistics centre is ideal for generating solar power. The new PV installation enables us to meet around 40 percent of the location’s electricity needs,” said Oskar Kramer, country manager Switzerland at Gebrüder Weiss.

There are already plans to expand the system next year, as well as to build a PV installation at the company’s Basel location.

The latest expansion brings Gebrüder Weiss one step closer to meeting its environmental target of achieving carbon neutrality for its logistics facilities by 2030. Where technically feasible, the logistics company is gradually switching how it generates electricity in its facilities to solar power.

Solar power systems are a standard feature of its new buildings. Twenty-one such PV installations are already in service at multiple locations in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, saving 1,100 tons of CO₂ annually. These existing installations currently provide 10 percent of its total electricity requirements in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

The system in Altenrhein has 693 solar panels covering a surface area of 1,700 m² (18,300 square feet). The maximum output is 270 kW, peak, with  a yield of 250 megawatt-hours per year.

Overall, Gebrüder Weiss has 21 location with solar power installations. The total area of all PV systems: 46,500 m² (500,000 square feet). They generate 8,800 megawatt-hours a year.

Gebrüder Weiss is a global freight forwarder with a core business of overland transport, air, and sea freight and logistics. Its history that dates back more than 500 years. The family-owned company employs nearly 8,000 people worldwide, with 180 company-owned locations. In North America it has headquarters in Chicago and offices in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, and throughout the US.