On the rooftop of a catholic church in Skoczoc-Pogorze in Upper Silesia, the 37kW array is the first installation in the county and a standout project in the country’s young solar market. The Eastern European nation currently relies on its large indigenous supplies of coal to heavily support its energy mix.
The clean energy covers all of the church’s energy needs, electric heating and the lighting of the presbytery and other adjoining buildings including guest rooms, conference room and kitchens. The project will also generate an income under Poland’s ‘green certificate’ by selling surplus electricity to the grid.
“High expectations were linked to the construction project due to its uniqueness,” said Piotr Zajac, project lead at installers RenSan Energy.
“That is why we selected the polycrystalline CS6P-P modules of Canadian Solar because of their high quality and outstanding performance. We are particularly delighted about the positive feedback from the congregation and other priests in the region. This shows that the project is gaining broad acceptance in the region shortly after its finalisation.”
Dr Shawn Qu, chairman and ceo of Canadian Solar, added: “The emerging Polish solar market has great potential. The government underlined its support for the expansion of renewable technologies to diversify the energy mix through the introduction of a feed-in tariff in 2013.
“With the decision to enter the Polish market already at an early stage, we emphasise our aspiration to establish a worldwide PV standard for the generation of reliable cost-effective energy.”