London, UK: A new calculator shows operators how much money they could save by installing solar panels to trailers.
Genie Insights has calculated how much fridge battery related breakdowns and premature battery replacements could be costing UK and Irish temperature-controlled transport operators.
The company has launched a calculator that provides operators with an indication of how much they could save over their fleets’ lifetime by installing one of its solar panels. By inputting just a few details, the calculator provides a total potential saving in battery replacements and in reduced breakdowns.
The calculator shows that an operator with a fleet of 200 refrigerated trailers could potentially save £192,000 over the lifetime of the entire fleet.
Matt Reeve, Genie Insights said: “When we ask customers if they have ever looked at the problem of flat battery related costs within their refrigerated fleets, most of them either didn’t realise they had a problem or just accepted these costs because they’ve never had a way of mitigating them before now.”
By adding a solar panel to the roof of a temperature-controlled trailer, the fridge battery can be ‘trickle charged’ to keep the battery constantly topped up.
As well as the improved fleet uptime and reliability achieved by mitigating breakdowns; battery health is also protected giving a longer battery life and there is an environmental benefit due to less replacement batteries being needed over the fleet’s lifetime, the company says.
“With the installation of a Genie Insights high efficiency 50 watt solar panel adding just a nominal amount to a trailer that costs anywhere between £40k and £60k, depending on the trailer spec, Genie Insights’ customers explain that it is a ‘no brainer’,” Genie Insights says.
Operators can benefit no matter what size of fleet they operate. For example, a fleet of just 10 trailers could save £9,600 and a fleet of 1,000 trailers could potentially save £960,000 over the lifetime of the fleet.
