Solar photovoltaic pilot trial gets underway

LITOCLEAN has installed solar panels on its soil and groundwater remediation modules.

Since the beginning of 2021, an experimental program has been underway to try to reduce the traditional electricity consumption of the soil decontamination equipment used at LITOCLEAN. This trial is based on the installation of solar panels on the roof of some of the modules to take advantage of the energy that comes directly from the sun’s radiation and transform it into power for the equipment.

The objective is: “to study the opportunities offered by this technology to see how best to integrate it into our system and reuse this renewable source in other implementations”, as David Garriga, head of LITOCLEAN’s R&D&I Department, explains. This is a strategic test that is being considered for potential future use in the methodologies applied in day-to-day work.

The study, which will last for one year, will make it possible to determine the possibilities of photovoltaics in a real environment, since “there are unexpected natural conditions such as the shade that may fall on them or the dirt they accumulate, which may reduce the effectiveness of their capabilities,” says Garriga.

This project is aligned with LITOCLEAN’s policy of betting on sustainable methodologies, such as bioremediation or phytoremediation, with the aim of achieving the greenest possible remediations, also following the SDG strategy.