In Quimper, roofs of shops produce green and local energy

Installed in September 2021 on the roofs of three shops located in the commercial area of ​​Gourvily in Quimper, the 282 photovoltaic panels began to produce renewable electricity last September up to 88 megawatt-hours. This 475 m² area produces the equivalent of the annual consumption of twenty households.

Where does the generated electricity go? In the public distribution network to supply businesses in this area. But for now, this electricity is just a supplement. Given the size of the commercial area and its energy needs, it is impossible for the current installation to produce the necessary volume.

It is therefore little compared to the needs. But in this area, you have to see the glass half full and bet on the future. In any case, this is the leitmotif of Enercoop Bretagne, a regional collective interest cooperative society (SCIC) created in 2013 which fully financed the Quimper installation to the tune of 80,000 euros. Its objective: to supply electricity from 100% renewable sources (solar, wind, hydraulic, biomass).

For the solar part, she needs to find available roofs capable of accommodating photovoltaic panels. This is not always an easy task, especially since for certain large-scale projects, municipalities and local residents sometimes mobilize to refuse projects to install panels, deemed too visually impacting or too greedy in terms of land. agricultural or building.

Using buildings in a commercial area has several advantages, as Jean-Baptiste Notta, supply and production manager at Enercoop Bretagne points out.

This type of installation contributes to the energy transition but without impact on land, without conflict of use

Jean-Baptiste Notta

Enercoop Brittany

“These are already artificialized areas and that’s what we like about this demonstrator”, he adds.

Still, for the moment, the company is struggling to find production media. This is the whole current paradox. “We don’t take new customers because we don’t have enough green energy, deplores Jean-François Rousseau, the president of Enercoop Bretagne. There is an appetite from the public, there is progress in the installation of these energies but clearly, it is not going fast enough”.

Soaring energy prices may work in their favour, especially for owners of large commercial buildings. The energy bill weighs heavily in their budget (in equivalent, up to 30% of the net result of a food distributor). Given the context, it will become even heavier. Hence the need to find alternative responses.

There is also the legal constraint: a decree of the Elan law requires buildings for tertiary use (including shops and stores) of more than 1,000 m² to gradually reduce energy consumption (at least 40% in 2030, 50% in 2040 and 60% in 2050). As for the so-called Energy-Climate law, it obliges all new constructions and extensions of more than 1000m² to equip 30% of the surface of their roof with photovoltaic panels or to vegetate it. An obligation that is sometimes hard to implement, as can be read in this article published in April 2021 on the lsa-conso.fr site dedicated to the consumer goods sector in France.