Are not expected ArcelorMittal in the field of solar energy

Are not expected ArcelorMittal in the field of solar energy. Everything is party a symbolic achievement: the photovoltaic installation of the Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne Stadium, which was to be ready for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The world leader in the steel industry has transformed testing in only six weeks in close partnership with Tenesol. At the request of the subsidiary of Total and EDF, we put in gestation an internal activity that we have launched in January", said Marc Poullin, Director of Amhelios, connected solar branch at ArcelorMittal Construction.

To unveil two new solutions to the French market, the Group chose to expose them to the international fair of renewable energies and the energy management (Sireme), which opened yesterday in Paris. "We we address professionals in the building and large solar power plants on the ground." "We seek these two fields of application, whose development in France is expected in the Grenelle of the environment," explains François-Pierre de Feydeau, Director of strategy and marketing for Amhelios. "We also aim the sector of the residential with developing solutions that will be ready for here for six months," he added.

Ground, without concrete

The experience of the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium, ArcelorMittal team learned about the issues of integration of photovoltaic modules in the frame and issues of the sustainability of such a facility. And it made it a competitive advantage: "We provide guarantees that no one can give in terms of reliability and durability compared to conventional systems where one has a side modules and structures of the other." An approach clearly based on the requirements of investors in the photovoltaic, engaged for a period of twenty years (duration of contracts for the purchase of electricity by EDF).

Named Ekinoxe, the integrated solar roof solution which was developed in six months with the assistance of the centre of R & D group at Liège, incarnates the strategy of ArcelorMittal. The technological challenge is to have managed to integrate, at the stage of the manufacturing plant, a photovoltaic module with high performance (140 watts per square metre peaks), a very high-strength steel roof. "This integrated approach allows us to ensure that the quality of our products will be reproducible. "Our goal is to change the least possible patterns for the installers of metallic structures with turnkey solutions", explains François-Pierre de Feydeau. Understood, this integrated solar roof which is competitive with a cost of between 600 and 700 euros per square metre is eligible for the tariff maximum purchase of 60 cents of euro/kWh.

The same conceptual approach is reflected in Kassiope, the solar plant on the ground that ArcelorMittal also reveals to the Sireme. This type of installation consists of a metal structure and its anchorage to the soil of photovoltaic modules in crystalline silicon and thin-layer high performance (CIS), the connectors and inverters. From a standardized principle, "this solution is original because it is sized to measure for each project of the nature of the soil and the climate." "We can thus ensure the resistance of the structure and optimize the cost," explains François-Pierre de Feydeau. In this case, innovation is nestled in the attachment system on the ground, without concrete, which requires a simple drill. Once the picket is pressed, two removable Spades deploy at the end to anchor the structure on any type of soil (rock, sand, flood zone...). Able to withstand typhoon winds of more than 300 km/h, this patented system allows, to a traditional solution, to prevent the clearing of a cubic metre of Earth and the casting of the same volume of concrete by post installation. With a just as simple dismantling its environmental impact is reduced by a factor of 10 on the duration of operation, at least twenty-five years. While achievements already turning in Spain and Czech Republic, ArcelorMittal is still under discussion for projects in the South of the France and metropolis.