Rickertsreute hybrid power plant: A flagship project for green energy

The Rickertsreute solar park on Lake Constance is a showcase project for the energy transition in Germany. With an installed capacity of 12 MWp on an area of 11 hectares, the solar park supplies around 5,000 households with more than 15 million kWh of clean electricity per year.

What makes this project so special is the combination of solar energy and a 10 MWh battery storage system. This makes the Rickertsreute solar park the largest and most advanced hybrid power plant of its kind in Baden-Württemberg, according to operator Hubert Bechinger, bee pv GmbH. The integration of the storage system allows fluctuations in the power grid to be balanced out and energy to be fed into the grid when it is most needed.

Another special feature of the project is the use of so-called “second life batteries” from electric vehicles. Instead of producing new batteries, large quantities of unused batteries from old production series in the automotive industry were purchased. This meant that not a single new battery had to be built for this project, making a valuable contribution to sustainability.

Another innovative approach is the use of the space between the solar modules: throughout the summer, sheep from a local shepherd graze there, eliminating the need for mowing vehicles.

meteocontrol carried out the technical inspection of the PV system and storage facility for this pioneering project. Our experts also took on the task of construction supervision and drone thermography to ensure the quality and performance of the system.
 

^{Image: bee pv GmbH}