New Perspectives in green Energy

People in remote villages without access to electricity have hitherto been particularly benefited by solar driven Grundfos pumps for domestic water supply and irrigation. With new and larger solar driven pump types in the pipeline, Grundfos will approach another kind of customers: Customers who are traditionally choosing pumps driven by the mains system or by diesel, will get an environmentally friendly alternative in the shape of pumps driven by renewable energy.

CRFlex leading the way

The first step towards this goal has been taken, according to Product Manager, Geraldine Lin, with the launching of a CRFlex pump which, like the SQFlex, is driven by solar energy. Unlike the SQFlex it is not placed in a well, but instead placed above or on the bank of, for instance, a lake or a river.

- This means that we can now offer solar driven pumps for a number of new applications. We are even planning to present more and larger solar driven pumps in the near future – the first of which will be ready to be launched this autumn, said Ms Lin and continued:

- With this we shall be able to offer completely new alternatives to customers who may have access to the mains but prefer green products and maybe want to save money.

Low-cost solar energy

Another option may speed up the use of solar driven Grundfos pumps – an alternative to the solar panels sold by Grundfos so far. The new thin-film based solar panels produce electricity that is 40 percent cheaper – on the other hand they take up a little more space.

- Thin-film based solar panels have gained high enough quality to make them a real alternative and, combined with a wider range of solar driven pumps, we shall be able to meet the requests of new customer groups but we shall also be better at delivering systems with more pumps and all required equipment, said Ms Lin.