– It seems like a normal solar park, says Gaute Stokkan. He is research leader for solar energy and materials at Sintef. Gaute Stokkan says that the project will give them an answer as to whether it is possible to farm and harvest energy in the same area. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news But it doesn’t quite look like an ordinary solar park. Where you imagine lots of solar cells lying around, these stand upright like walls on the ground. The first of its kind here in Norway. – We will use it to research the possibilities of farming and harvesting energy from solar cells at the same time in the same area, says Stokkan. The project is called “solar sharing”: the plants will share the sunlight with the solar cells. 30 football pitches Producing electricity requires large areas. – In Norway, we have so far limited ourselves to putting solar panels on roofs and walls, but the potential is far greater by also using the land, writes Skjetlein upper secondary school in an e-mail to news. The school also writes that they are trying to find new opportunities for energy production without affecting nature and the environment. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news For a solar park to produce as much energy as a wind turbine, an area the size of 30 football fields is required. “Soldeleparken”, which is located at Skjetlein high school, spreads over an area the size of a goal. In this area, it is possible to produce enough electricity to power three households. – In a number of other countries, including the USA and Japan, this form of energy production has gained a certain scope, but in a country far to the north there is a need to gain new experiences, writes Skjetlein vgs. Many people involved It works like normal solar cells, but you have solar cells on both sides of the “wall”. The front facing east takes in slightly more sunlight than the back facing west. As you know, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. – The reason for that is that you have the most consumption here at Skjetlein at the morning set. That way, we have the largest production to match consumption. That’s what Gaute Riise Engen says, who is the project manager for Aneo, an energy company that invests in the solar park. Ane Amundstuen Ringen is one of the students from the upper secondary school who contributes with the installation of the solar cells. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news But besides Aneo and Sintef, students and pupils from NTNU and Skjetlein upper secondary school are also involved. The students with planning and the students with assembly. – It will be cool to see if you actually get to mow grass between the rows of solar cells, says Ane Amundstuen Ringen, who is a graduating student at Skjetlein vgs. The project will continue for the next ten years, during which it is hoped to gather knowledge about, among other things, energy yield and crop yield.
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Launches Norway’s first “solar share park” – news Trøndelag
