Winterhalter is investing 2 million euros in green technology

What happens in the large Winterhalter car park opposite the company headquarters – that's what many people ask when they drive by. For three weeks, Sopago has been building a solar-powered carport system that will cover 194 parking spaces. In the final expansion, a peak output of 500 kilowatts will be possible, which the dishwashing technology manufacturer from Mickenborn hopes will cover 40 percent of its electricity needs. The investment of two million euros includes state funding of up to 200 thousand euros.

Greif is convinced of geothermal energy

When asked about the motivation behind the recent investment in green technologies, Bernhard Greif noted that the company has been moving in this direction for a long time. Both the new building in 2013 and the logistics center opened in 2019 are equipped with photovoltaic and geothermal roofing systems, says the management member (responsible for construction projects at Winterhalter). And let's not forget: eight electric charging stations will be operational in 2023.

No one notices: a sinkhole under the street

And now the big project, the implementation of which is important for Ingomar Jünger. As Managing Director of Sopago GmbH from Munich, he presented on site what was happening on a good 4,000 square meters of space on Winterhalterstrasse. The technical sequence states that the infrastructure will be established now and possibly by the end of March. According to Junger, it is “unique” – it is built on steel pegs, not concrete.

Trusses and timber framing as well as framing and construction of the solar modules are among the next steps, which will likely be completed within eight weeks. Then we can move on to the electrical installation. Special feature: The entire system is connected to the Winterhalter factory site under L329. The cleaning hatch allows this to happen without blocking the road.

Loft units don't make it any cheaper

Obviously, recovery takes longer. PV systems over parking areas are said to be much more expensive than traditional roof systems – mainly due to the required infrastructure of more expensive hardwood and panels. These are the so-called overhead units that must also withstand snow loads.

However, Greif hopes to achieve a “double effect” from all this – that the electricity coming from the car park roof will have an environmental and economic impact and that the weather-protected parking spaces will be useful to employees – in the winter as protection against snow and rain and in the summer against solar radiation.

This is your electricity bill

Currently, PV systems occupy around 8,000 square meters of roof space at the company headquarters – which is reflected in a peak output of 550 kWh. According to the information, Winterhalter can use 90 percent of the energy generated so far for himself. The surplus is fed into the electricity grid, especially on weekends.

With the new roof of the parking lot, approximately 500 kilowatt-hours of peak energy will be added. In the future, about a quarter of the entire company's area will be covered by photovoltaic systems. Graf expects the new system to be able to cover about 40 percent of its electricity needs. This means that we can get very close to the goal of “as little external reference as possible”.

This is how Jurgen Winterhalter sees it

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In a press release, Jürgen Winterhalter cited his social and environmental responsibility as managing director of a family business and security of supply as the main reasons for the investment: “We want to produce as sustainably as possible. The last few years have also shown us that it makes sense to become as independent as possible from external energy suppliers. “Economically, we can invest our money better. However, we will continue to equip all new buildings with geothermal energy and photovoltaic systems in the future. Our goal is to become as CO2 neutral as possible.”

the State financing In addition to Winterhalter, the Schuler-Hangarter Maschinenbau company in Bendt alone received €200,000 in 2023. The money comes from the “Parking lot roofing with photovoltaics” financing program of the state Environment Ministry.