Backshop Tiefkühls' previous energy management system could not keep up with growing demands. That’s why the company chose the smart platform flexOn. It increases the self-consumption of the solar installation and saves energy – a sustainable and economical solution.
Backshop Tiefkühl GmbH is a subsidiary of the long-established Harry-Brot GmbH. The wholesaler supplies a wide range of frozen baked goods to customers in large-scale catering, food service, and food retail.
Food wholesales
8500 m2
Ground-mounted solar instalation, refrigeration system
The main challenge was replacing the previous energy management system, which had been in use since 2012. This was necessary because the system was no longer being developed and could not integrate the new ground-mounted solar installation.
Due to its high capacity, the solar installation often generated more electricity than could be used. Especially at weekends, surplus power was fed into the grid – in times of negative electricity prices even incurring additional costs.
Our smart energy management platform flexOn uses Backshop Tiefkühl’s cold storage as an energy buffer. During periods of high solar generation, flexOn automatically lowers the temperature, creating a natural cold reserve. When solar generation is low and electricity prices are high, flexOn draws on this reserve and reduces cooling demand.This aligns the refrigeration system with solar generation. As a result, Backshop Tiefkühl increases self-consumption and saves energy.
Another positive effect of the optimisation is a wear-optimised mode of operation of the cooling system. In normal operation, the system tends to cycle frequently, with compressors switching on and off more often. With flexOn’s optimisation, the cycling rate is reduced, allowing the system to run more consistently over longer periods at either high or low load. This protects the cooling system, reduces wear, and extends its lifetime.
"By implementing the new energy management solution from encentive, we hope to achieve better integration of our own energy generation, with the goal of maximising self-consumption."
Reduced energy costs through refrigeration unit optimisation
Increased self-consumption of self-generated electricity and reduced grid feed-in
Extended service life and reduced wear of the refrigeration system through optimised operation
Before flexOn, Peter Bade GmbH lacked visibility of its energy flows. With our smart energy management system, the company overcame these challenges, increased self-consumption of its solar installation, and achieved significant savings.