Installation of 100kW photovoltaic system on a textile industry roof

In 2011, executives of M. Mandalakas S.A., an established Greek textile industry with a long tradition in the manufacturing of fabrics, decided to expand their business activities and installed a grid-connected photovoltaic plant on the top of the textile industry roof, taking advantage both of the favorable feed-in-tariff incentive scheme (aiming at the diffusion of RES in Greece) and the availability of free space on the flat, shadow-free roof area of the textile industrial plant accounting to approximately 3,500 m2. The 100kW PV system (comprising of polycrystalline silicon solar panels) yields energy output of 160,000 kWh/year, which is injected into the power distribution grid. Up until today, the PV installation has yielded 341,000 kWh, leading to CO2 emissions reduction of 239 tn. The decision to investigate this business venture stemmed from the fact that Greek textile industry currently encounters very difficult financial challenges, largely due to the economic recession as well as the massive importation of textiles from China or other countries selling at very competitive prices. The installation of photovoltaic systems appeared as a low-risk investment taking into account the guaranteed by Law prices in effect by that time. The pay-back duration of the investment is estimated around 5 ½ years, considering the fact that the project funding was 100% private funds, the feed-in-tariff when the contract was signed was 0.42 EUR/kWh and that the contract is valid for 20 years.