Solar Lightning's solar-powered EV charging

Building the local charging infrastructure

A unique project is taking shape in Avedøre Green City, a district next to Copenhagen committed to becoming fully sustainable.

With the support of European Green Cities and Energy Community Avedøre A.M.B.A, Denmark’s first local citizen-driven energy community, Solar Lightning Entreprise ApS, a company specialized in holistic sustainable system solutions, is building a parking station for EVs covered by a solar powered, energy-generating roof.

The charging challenge

The adoption of electric vehicles has risen exponentially in Denmark, reaching nearly 60,000 in 2020. However, charging infrastructure across the country is lagging behind; especially in small municipalities and districts.

While residents in Avedøre are increasingly taking-up electric vehicles, there are no charging stations available in the area.

To meet this growing demand for sustainable mobility, the local community joined forces and applied for the Hvidovre municipality's Green City Grant to get financial support for EV charging infrastructure.

A 100 percent renewable charging solution

Along with Energy Community Avedøre A.M.B.A, Solar Lightning is building the first parking station in the district with four EVBox BusinessLine charging ports, powered by a solar cell roof of 11.88 kWp.

The station is expected to be operational on June 24th, 2021. Solar Lightning will take on the task of charge point operator (CPO) and the charging price is anticipated to be €0.48 per kWh.

As Morten Rolighed Nielsen, regional director of Denmark & Sweden at EVBox explains, this solar-powered station is the first of its kind in Denmark.

“Solar cell-covered charging stations is a completely new way of thinking about e-mobility. It is an exciting milestone in our journey towards making EV charging fully circular. We are very pleased to partner with Solar Lightning in providing this innovative solution and extending the local charging network."

Solar Lightning’s sustainable system expertise combined with EVBox’s all-in-one charging solutions allows for rapid execution of the project. As Martin Dietz, CEO of Solar Lightning explains:

“We partnered with EVBox because its integrated charging solutions fit our needs perfectly. The flexible backend of EVBox BusinessLine allows us to manage the stations as a CPO and the automated payment flows gives users a seamless charging experience. Moreover, the modern and robust design of the charging stations make them appealing and reliable.”

In addition to powering EV charging, this parking station supplies the first locally produced renewable energy to the district.

Exciting times ahead

This innovative and renewable charging solution will finally make EV charging possible for residents in Avedøre. It will also set an example for other districts and municipalities looking to increase their sustainable agenda. Indeed, more bottom-up initiatives like this are needed to make it easier for people to make the transition to an electric car.

Having received additional funding from the parking tech company Easypark, the next step for Avedøre will be to develop a districtwide electric mobility plan with a focus on charging infrastructure.

Finally, with the 2018 Renewable Energy Directive passed into Danish law in May 2021, Solar Lightning is planning on expanding its EV charging operations.

“We will continue offering our system delivery package with solar cell-covered parking places powering EVBox DC and AC chargers,” continues Martin Dietz “To scale up, we will combine this sustainable setup with financial leasing offers. This business plan will allow us to contribute to a greener future, in line with Denmark’s objective of cutting emissions by 70 percent before 2030.”