Carports with bifacial solar panels for 300 cars in Westrozebeke

Cooperation between 3 players lifts project to greater height

Menapy, Westvlees and IZEN join forces to build solar parks where nearly three hundred passenger cars will find electricity and shade. 

Tom Pollyn, Menapy: "Menapy helps industrial companies to become more sustainable and save on energy costs without having to invest in their own facilities. With our 'Solar as a Service', Menapy takes care of all studies, development, financing, construction, insurance and maintenance of the system, while our customers enjoy sustainable and competitively priced solar power. Each solar park is a business card, and this is another high-profile one. Following onwards, there are two more projects with the same characteristics in the pipeline: one in the port of Antwerp and another in Brussels. We are also currently developing similar projects for our clients in sunnier regions such as Spain and Italy.” 

Anthony Van Eeckhout, WestVlees: "Westvlees needs an enormous amount of cooling and, given its location, many employees come to work by car. The Westvlees staff work all day long in a particularly cool environment. Finding your car recharged in the shade after a long day of hard work is a nice bonus. Westvlees has been committed to making energy and water consumption more sustainable for many years, and this installation fits in perfectly with the company's philosophy. The company's own electricity production is not the only aspect. The rainwater from the solar carports is collected and cleaned to be used in business operations. When abundant, it will seep into the ground".

Jo Van Beek, IZEN: "This is a challenging and interesting project because it involves a special collaboration between three parties. Westvlees can purchase green electricity from investor Menapy, but that is not the only reason why this meat processing company opts for renewable energy. The solar carports provide almost 1 GWh of solar power per year, which is the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of some 300 families. This is possible because IZEN works with bifacial solar panels here. They capture light from both sides: at the top sunlight and at the bottom ambient light".