Rooftop Revolution: Solar PV Powers Smarter, Greener Delivery!

In recent years, with the rapid development of my country's e-commerce industry, the logistics industry is not only facing huge carbon emission pressure, but also express delivery warehousing, transfer stations, etc. also occupy a considerable area of ​​land.

Relevant data show that my country's logistics and transportation energy consumption currently accounts for more than 20% of the total energy consumption of the whole society. Among them, the energy consumption of logistics parks has reached 78.68 billion kWh in 2021, and carbon emissions are 47.316 million tons. It can be seen that the logistics and transportation industry has become a major energy consumer and carbon emitter. If you want to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality, it is crucial for the logistics and transportation industry to develop towards "greening".

I thought that the installation of photovoltaic power stations in logistics parks was already very "green", but who knew that the express delivery industry had already covered the entire chain with "photovoltaics". Today, I will take you to open your eyes to the entire chain of photovoltaic + express delivery!

Warehousing link: Photovoltaic power stations "land" in logistics parks

Logistics parks are important nodes for express delivery business and are also major carbon emitters. In recent years, leading logistics companies such as Alibaba Cainiao, JD.com, SF Express, and Vipshop have deployed distributed photovoltaics to achieve emission reduction targets using photovoltaic green electricity. According to incomplete data, there are currently 2,553 logistics parks in China, and there are more than 200 cities with first- and second-level logistics parks. Calculated based on the fact that each park can install at least 1MW of photovoltaic power stations, the market space for photovoltaic + logistics parks is at least 2.553GW.

• JD.com

As an industry leader, JD.com announced as early as the end of 2021 that it would join hands with partners to build the world's largest rooftop photovoltaic power generation capacity ecosystem by 2030. JD.com's "Asia No. 1" Xi'an Smart Industrial Park has obtained dual carbon neutrality certification certificates, becoming a benchmark for green development in the industry. The photovoltaic generator set of its "Asia No. 1" Intelligent Industrial Park in Jiading, Shanghai, consists of 8,600 monocrystalline solar panels, with an annual power generation of 3.11 million kWh, which not only meets the office lighting needs of the park during the day, but also can charge electric new energy vehicles at night through the "car + carport + charging pile + photovoltaic" project pilot.

• Cainiao

Cainiao Logistics is also not far behind. As early as 2018, it completed the grid-connected power generation of the photovoltaic power station in the logistics park warehouse. In recent years, dozens of Cainiao logistics parks across the country have also been installed with rooftop photovoltaic power stations to contribute to green logistics.

• SF Express

SF Express has invested in the construction of the largest logistics industry photovoltaic project in cooperation between Fujian Province and State Grid Integrated Energy Company in Minhou County, Fuzhou, Fujian. The annual power generation is about 6 million kilowatts, which can reduce the electricity cost by about 4 million yuan each year, which is equivalent to reducing the use of 1,848 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 5,928 tons.

• Three Links and One Reach

In addition, express delivery companies such as STO, ZTO, YTO, and Yunda have also deployed photovoltaic power generation projects in transfer centers, collection centers and other places, achieving cost reduction, efficiency improvement and emission reduction goals by self-generation and self-use and surplus power access to the grid.

Taking STO Express as an example, the distributed photovoltaic project built by STO Zhejiang Hangzhou Transfer Center has a total installed capacity of 1.139MW and an average annual power generation of about 1.276 million kWh, which can save about 510 tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 1,272 tons per year.

• Suning

In September 2021, State Grid Shaoxing Power Supply Company and Suning Yuncang Logistics Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation agreement to jointly build the rooftop photovoltaic project of Suning Shaoxing Logistics Park.

According to reports, the total investment in the rooftop photovoltaic project of Suning Shaoxing Logistics Park is more than 70 million yuan. The area of ​​solar photovoltaic panels laid on the roof will exceed 100,000 square meters, with an installed capacity of approximately 17,800 kilowatts. The project started construction in the second half of 2021 and was put into operation in the first half of last year. The annual power generation is expected to be 15.917 million kilowatt-hours.

In fact, the layout of photovoltaic applications in express logistics parks can not only accelerate the green and low-carbonization of the industry, but also have many benefits:

1. The growth of demand for Internet retail and express delivery business and the release of related favorable policies have gradually increased investors' enthusiasm for warehousing and logistics projects. According to observations, current investors focus on the Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin region.

2. In addition to the importance of clean energy itself to environmental protection, photovoltaic power generation also has strong heat insulation. After installing the solar energy system, the indoor temperature of the logistics park will drop by at least 4-5 degrees in summer.

3. The idle roof area of ​​the logistics park is large and flat, and the installation of photovoltaic power stations is simple and easy to operate; the environment near the park is open and unobstructed, with abundant light resources, and the photovoltaic system has higher power generation efficiency.

4. The logistics park belongs to industrial and commercial electricity, with high electricity bills and large electricity consumption. The installation of distributed photovoltaic power generation can save high industrial electricity bills, and peak electricity consumption is not tight. It can also enjoy photovoltaic power generation subsidies in some areas, reducing the operating costs of merchants.

Transportation link: Photovoltaic transport vehicle + cold chain logistics

In the transportation link, photovoltaic technology also plays an important role. Although new energy transport vehicles have gradually become popular, it is the emerging cold chain logistics in recent years that really makes photovoltaics shine in logistics and transportation.

Cold chain logistics is a key link in the development of fresh food e-commerce, but the high cost of cold chain makes many companies discouraged. The emergence of photovoltaic intelligent mobile cold storage perfectly solves the problem of "the first kilometer" of freshness preservation in the pre-cooling link. By combining the photovoltaic power generation energy system with the integrated intelligent condensing unit, the photovoltaic mobile cold storage has the advantages of green energy saving, convenient mobility, intelligent and efficient. Its high-efficiency photovoltaic power generation self-supply system can meet the energy consumption requirements of the product itself without the need for an external power supply. On rainy days, it can also be powered by photovoltaic power generation energy storage system, city power backup system, and multi-fuel generator backup system to achieve "freedom of electricity use".

There is also a photovoltaic mobile cold storage, which perfectly combines photovoltaic power generation with cold chain storage through careful design, providing a reliable cold chain solution for fresh food e-commerce. This not only reduces the cost of cold chain, but also improves the quality monitoring and home delivery service level of fresh goods, and promotes the development of the fresh food e-commerce industry.

Outlet link: "Tricycle" and photovoltaic cabinet

Photovoltaic technology has also been widely used in the "last mile" delivery link at the end of express outlets.

Swedish home furnishing giant IKEA was the first to introduce photovoltaics into the outlet distribution link, using solar cargo bicycles to solve the problem of short-distance delivery. The cargo compartment of this solar cargo bicycle can accommodate about 90% of IKEA's product types, and its carbon dioxide emissions are 98% less than modern diesel trucks, which is both economical and environmentally friendly.

Chinese logistics companies are not far behind. As early as 2018, JD.com launched a solar smart delivery vehicle, which can not only generate electricity with thin-film solar energy, but also has an Internet intelligent central control system, with one-button navigation, road planning, reversing image viewing, mobile phone charging and other functions. Soon, express delivery companies such as Postal EMS, SF Express, and ZTO Express also joined the ranks of photovoltaic delivery vehicles to contribute to green logistics.

In addition to photovoltaic delivery vehicles, photovoltaic express cabinets have also become an important part of green logistics.

Paysera, a world-renowned financial technology company, first promoted the smart parcel locker network in the Lithuanian market and plans to install 150 to 200 photovoltaic express lockers in the country within a year, and expand to other European countries. These photovoltaic express lockers do not need to be connected to the power grid, are powered by solar energy, and are equipped with energy-saving devices and backup batteries to withstand the cold in winter. In addition, some parcel lockers have heat insulation functions to ensure that parcels can be properly kept in various environments.

In the Chinese logistics market, Fengchao photovoltaic lockers have also been in use for many years. In the early days, Fengchao also launched a solar home smart locker to facilitate individual users to collect letters and parcels. The emergence of these photovoltaic express lockers not only solves the problem of electricity consumption in the terminal delivery of express delivery, but also reduces carbon emissions and promotes the development of green logistics.