{"id":6623,"date":"2021-06-07T08:31:53","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T06:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.phoenixcontact.com\/news\/berries-from-bueren\/"},"modified":"2024-10-02T10:03:34","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T08:03:34","slug":"berries-from-bueren","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.phoenixcontact.com\/en\/berries-from-bueren\/","title":{"rendered":"Berries from B\u00fcren"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A cold day in May, near Paderborn – on-site visit to the field. In icy wind and hail, we take the opportunity to visit a project that is unique in Germany so far. But is the structure a solar power plant? Or a greenhouse?<\/p>\n\n

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The plant offers enough space in height and width for agricultural equipment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The berries that farmer and electrical engineer Fabian Karthaus grows in B\u00fcren in eastern Westphalia don’t care about these discussions. Earth, blueberry and raspberry bushes obviously feel right at home under the 4,200 square meters of solar roof, as their owner tells us with some pride: “We had a really good harvest in the very first year with fruit that was above average in terms of both size and taste.<\/p>\n\n

4,200 square meters of solar surface, 800,000 kWh annual output<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

But for the building permit and profitability of what Fabian Karthaus calls Germany’s first and largest food-voltaic plant, these definitions are quite crucial. “This is not an elevated photovoltaic system, it’s a greenhouse,” emphasizes Burkhard Hesse. The owner of a handicraft company specializing in photovoltaics in neighboring Geseke<\/a> is the designer and builder of the energy-rich structure. “It primarily provides protection for the plants from hail and precipitation. As a result, there are fewer problems with mold and disease. We’ve also measured a temperature increase of up to three degrees here during the cold season, so we’re frost-free for much longer.”<\/p>\n\n