New Innovation at Dawsongroup Benelux: Polar°Store Becomes Solar°Store!

Dawsongroup, together with Independent Energy, is currently testing a new innovation on the Polar°Store: a reefer container combined with solar panels and an optional battery pack.

“We are killing two birds with one stone,” said Operations Manager Jan de Waard. “We enable companies to become more sustainable, and with the current energy prices it is becoming more interesting every month. Energy savings are quickly approaching 50%.”

Dawsongroup is the first player with this innovation in the field of mobile cold stores and freezers. The proposal for the Polar°Store with Solar°Roof came about together with Independent Energy from Haarlem, Netherlands, a company that specialises in solar projects. Dawsongroup worked for more than five years with Independent Energy on this solar innovation. The Polar°Store with Solar°Roof is currently being tested on location in Ridderkerk, Netherlands.

“Independent Energy has developed a complete plug and play solar system for the 10ft, 20ft and 40ft Polar°Store,” said Jan, who was responsible for the entire project implementation on behalf of Dawsongroup Benelux. “They optimised the Solar°Roof and its construction for our Polar°Store containers and set up this trial with us.

“Basically, the Polar°Store resembles a refrigerated container (reefer), but it has been further developed for the stationary market. It is equipped with many extras, such as a containment alarm, emergency and LED lighting, and easy-to-open doors. We have tried to keep the entire system as simple as possible to use, so that every customer can easily deploy and maintain this technology. In addition, the entire energy supply can be followed via an app for the customer or servicing party.

“With an average of 2.5kW/h of power consumption, we have a very economical Polar°Store container. With the use of our Solar°Roof, this power consumption is fully absorbed. You can see exactly how much energy you are saving as well as returns to the energy supplier using the app. On sunny days we generate about 50kWh of energy, of which the Polar°Store consumes around 28kWh every day, so count your profit! Another great advantage of the solar panels is that the freezer is always in the shade. Our freezers are often placed on open ground, or against a dock, and are therefore fully exposed to the sun.

“The question, of course, is what you do with the excess energy. We are now conducting tests to run the Polar°Stores without mains power and we have seen that together with a battery pack we can run up to 90% autonomously. We will continue to develop this in the coming period,” concluded the Operations Manager for Benelux, who sees great opportunities for the Solar°Store. “It is great to report that we have already tested various solar projects for the United Nations, among others. The coming time will show which region this innovation is most suitable for. For example, we see many opportunities internationally, such as desert-like areas where no electricity is available.”

For portable temporary chilled storage in the UK, contact Dawsongroup temperature control solutions. Find out more about Dawsongroup’s Smarter Asset Strategy and the solutions we can provide for your business.