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VEM 26.06.2015

Vacon helps solve water and food shortages with solar-powered pumps, compressors and fans

26.6.2015

 

VACON® 20 X and VACON® 100 X AC drives, specifically designed for solar-powered applications, can be used with solar panels in environments where electricity supplies are scarce or unreliable.

The VACON 20 X and VACON 100 X AC drives play an important part in providing electricity from photovoltaic solar panels to the motors running various processes which make the standard of living better. Some of the typical applications include, for instance, water pumps which provide clean water for drinking and cooking or for irrigation; compressors used for refrigeration of food and dairy products as well as other applications including fans for ventilation and air conditioning.

The main geographical areas where Vacon’s solar-power technology can make a difference include Africa, Middle East, South East Asia, Australia, and the Americas.

“Vacon AC drives are able to utilize the maximum available energy from the photovoltaic solar panels in all situations. The drives start to control the speed of the motors in the pumps, compressors or fans as soon as the sun starts to shine in the morning, and continue to do so until the sun sets in the evening. We are proud to be helping solve the major global issues of water and food shortages,” explains Heikki Hiltunen, Executive Vice President, Market Operations at Vacon.

Photovoltaic solar panels absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity which can be used to power electrical devices. Once installed, the system has very low maintenance costs and the solar power is basically available for free.

In addition, solar-powered applications can be used to replace several other solutions that are more expensive, environmentally hazardous or logistically challenging. For example, diesel-driven pumps require fuel to be transported over a certain distance which itself consumes energy. Combustion engines are not that efficient, they require regular maintenance, and used oil and oil filters create hazardous waste.

Vacon’s solar-power technology using VACON 20 X and VACON 100 X AC drives is available up to 30 kW. If more power is needed, for example for deeper wells, solar-powered applications are also available with the VACON® NXP/NXI drives in a power range up to 5 MW.

Read more about Vacon 20 X »

Read more about Vacon 100 X »

 

Contact:

Markku Parpala
Product Manager, Frequency converters
Tel. +358 207 613 718

 

 

Author

VEM motors Finland Oy