Silent revolution in energy production

Do You Care About Silence? You Can Produce Energy. Need figures? Figure it out with us:

1.25 million square meters – that’s the surface area of the noise barriers produced and installed by the Kohlhauer group. 200 MW – this would be the output of a combined installation of VOLTA® panels if they were mounted on all of our barriers. Until now, noise protection has been associated with a costly expense. But it can also be an investment in renewable energy!

By installing VOLTA® photovoltaic panels on all acoustic barriers created by the Kohlhauer group, 140 GWh of electricity could be produced annually. If we gathered them in one place, it would become the second-largest solar farm in Poland. This is after taking into account the vertical positioning and varying exposure of the barriers to the south, which collectively reduce efficiency by an average of one-third compared to optimal setup.

The power of such a dispersed installation, assuming full coverage of the barriers with our panels equipped with 460 Wp modules, would be approximately 200 MW. Meanwhile, the record-breaking solar farm in Zwartowo, Pomerania – the largest in Central and Eastern Europe, launched in 2022 – had a capacity of 204 MW, reaching 290 MW after expansion. This example highlights the immense potential of photovoltaic systems integrated into acoustic barriers, despite the fact that the road or railway layout and building locations primarily determine the level of sunlight exposure.

A vertical power plant has a significant advantage – it requires zero square meters of additional land. VOLTA® panels are mounted on existing or new barrier structures, maintaining their noise-reducing function. The Zwartowo farm, on the other hand, covers 300 hectares, and the second-largest farm in the country, in Brudzew, spans “only” 100 hectares (with a capacity of 70 MW). Even though the land used is of low quality, installing such a system excludes any other activity on that site.

More and more clients are inquiring about the possibility of replacing “old” panels with VOLTA® components. Additionally, a significant portion of new projects now include the option to produce electricity while simultaneously providing noise protection. Examples? The Polmlek plant in Lidzbark Warmiński, acoustic barriers in Sindelfingen near Stuttgart, or installations in Munich.