Solaris delivered hundreds of electric buses to almost 30 cities and towns across Europe this year. The company is planning on selling many more in 2022 and future years. To support their development, it is also developing and will soon be using its own Solaris Charging Park.
The new EV Charging Park will be a central site for testing various charging solutions for electric buses. The new Charging Park will cover an area of 5,000 square meters. There will be four stands for vehicles in the roofed section of the park and this will be where the main charger, as well as a technical room, will be located.
Solaris will have photovoltaic panels installed on the roof to generate electricity from renewable energy. There will also be plug-in charging “islands” located next to it. The company noted that the new space will be where all loading and unloading processes will take place. Tests of new technologies and functionalities will also take place in this area.
For the company’s clients, the new Charging Park will showcase the company’s innovative solutions while featuring systems made by three different suppliers. This allows for various battery charging modes to be tested, and in turn helps Solaris to provide offerings that meet all types of market needs.
The first solution Solaris is offering is a charger that has 8 charging points. It has a power output with a range between 150 kW to 600 kW that can charge 3 vehicles simultaneously. This system is compatible with all of the connectors available on the market. Both buses and trolleybuses can use it to charge.
The system also supports vehicle-to-grid (V2G) functionality, with bidirectional energy flow between vehicles and the power grid. Solaris noted that its Charging Park will be the first bidirectional charging park in Poland and one of the first sites of its kind in Europe. The company pointed out that the deployment of V2G technology makes it possible to discharge buses for testing and to also use vehicles as mobile energy storage facilities.
The charging site will also have a charger with four charging points that have a total power output of 300 kW. It will have two socket outlets and one conventional one. It will also have one inverted pantograph. In addition, there are plans for the installation of two independent plug-in chargers with a power output of 150 kW each and V2G capability. Solaris also plans to have a central management system to allow for the operation of the Charging Park to be monitored and controlled remotely.
Construction of the Solaris Charging Park is expected to be completed by the end of this year and be fully operational by the middle of next year.
Featured image courtesy of Solaris.
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