Solar powered elevators in a residential building: A case study.

Below, we present a case study of a residential community with three elevators that decided to equip them with intelligent energy management and solar power solutions to achieve both economic and energy efficiency benefits.

Solar powered elevators

The homeowners’ association wanted to modernize their elevators, which were already nearly 30 years old. To this end, through the property manager, they contacted several elevator maintenance and modernization companies in search of solutions.

The community was particularly concerned about the building’s energy consumption, which was already high due to various factors, including the three existing elevators. The problem was not only the high energy consumption but also the high contracted power, which significantly increased the community’s costs.

Furthermore, after some power outages in the building, there had been cases of residents getting trapped in the elevator.

The P2S Solar Solution for lifts (Single-Phase Solar Power System)

One of the elevator companies contacted, attentive to the energy needs of its clients, proposed that the community modernize the elevators using the P2S solution (Single-Phase Power System for Lifts) from Epic Power.

They had already used it in other installations with very good results. This solution allows the installation of single-phase elevators with a maximum power consumption of only 500 W, offering the same performance as a three-phase elevator with consumption of up to 6 kW per elevator. It also allows connection to solar panels, completely eliminating the elevators’ energy consumption during daylight hours.

In the graph below, you can see the use of one of the elevators powered by solar energy (orange) and electricity from the grid (blue) over five days. The orange peaks correspond to sunlight hours.

Single-phase solutions with solar integration for elevators. Benefits achieved

After implementing the P2S single-phase solution for all three elevators along with solar integration, the community managed to a 53% reduction in energy consumption compared to the initial situation. Also a reduction of over 15 kW in contracted power was achieved, leading to annual savings of approximately €1,690*.
*Estimate based on the cost per kWh as of December 2024.

The system can be monitored to obtain detailed information on trips, consumption, battery charge, etc. All this information is very valuable for detecting possible anomalies in the elevator’s operation and for implementing predictive maintenance.

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