Solar and energy storage solutions for packing houses and cold rooms
In packing houses and cold rooms, refrigeration runs for many hours, often including hours when there is no solar generation. The operating profile of the cooling load is therefore the heart of the assessment, not just roof size.
Request an energy solution checkWhat sets refrigeration sites apart
These are sites with high electricity consumption that does not disappear in the evening. These three characteristics determine how the assessment is carried out.
Extended operation
Refrigeration often runs throughout the day and, at some sites, overnight as well — creating a constant baseload.
High and concentrated loads
Cooling, air conditioning and freezing create substantial demand that can be significant in the way electricity is charged.
Sensitivity to reliability
A refrigeration stoppage is an operational event. That is why storage is also assessed, among other things, on what it contributes to continuity of operation.
What characterises consumption at refrigeration sites
The gap between generation hours and consumption hours is the central issue in any assessment here.
Cooling that does not follow the sun
The cooling load continues when there is no solar generation. That gap determines how much electricity is drawn from the grid in each hour.
Peak demand
Moments of peak cooling load — during defrost, charging or concentrated operations — bear directly on demand charges.
Seasonal consumption
Cooling loads vary between seasons, so the benefit from generation is not uniform across the year either.
Buildings and site conditions
Buildings and refrigeration systems can limit clearances, roof loading and access for installation and maintenance work.
Where a refrigeration facility usually starts
At sites like these, generation and storage are usually assessed together rather than as two separate stages.
Engineering and commercial considerations
At refrigeration sites, no useful benefit can be estimated without first understanding the load profile.
Engineering review
- Equipment characteristics, age of refrigeration systems and their efficiency
- Daily and seasonal load profile, from metering or consumption data
- Effect of combining systems on refrigeration reliability
- Roof load-bearing capacity alongside existing refrigeration equipment
- Limits of the connection capacity and electrical infrastructure on site
Commercial review
- Electricity tariff classification and how demand is charged
- The share of consumption during hours with no generation
- The value of reducing demand compared with the value of energy
- Cost of storage against the alternative of generation alone
- Maintenance, component replacement and degradation over system life
At refrigeration sites in particular, there is no substitute for analysing the actual load profile. We do not present savings percentages or payback periods without metered data from the site.
Our delivery method at a refrigeration facility
The decisive stage is the load profile analysis. Without it, any estimate is guesswork.
Mapping the facility
The type of activity, production or service volumes, working hours and building structure.
Collecting consumption data
Bills, meter records and refrigeration equipment data, to understand when and why energy is consumed.
Analysing the load profile
Breaking consumption down by day and night and by season, and identifying the gap between generation and consumption.
Reviewing alternatives and storage
Comparing generation alone, storage alone and a combined design, including continuity of operation.
Design and delivery
Detailed design, licensing support, installation and operation, and transition into ongoing maintenance.
What is worth preparing before the energy solution check
At refrigeration sites, real consumption data matters more than any general estimate.
Where detailed metering data is not available, the initial assessment will rely on bills and estimates, and will be labelled accordingly as preliminary only.
Frequently asked questions
Related pages
The solutions behind refrigeration and packing sites
Let us review an energy solution for your facility
Send us electricity bills and details of the main equipment, and we will build an initial view of the gap between generation hours and consumption hours.