A career for and with renewable energies

by guest author | 02/01/2022

Thomas Bollmann leads a professional life for and with renewable energies. As the owner of Bollmann Elektrotechnik in Braunschweig, he manages a company that is responsible for the reliable functioning of many PV systems. "We like Lieschen Müller's plant just as much as large industrial plants," says Bollmann. In addition, the master electrical engineer is in demand nationwide as an expert and appraiser. As if that wasn't enough, he is also a lecturer, lecturer in photovoltaics and head of the Braunschweig Solar Academy.

Bollmann and his team oversee many exciting projects. We want to take a closer look at one and go to Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg AG, which was established in 1999, is based here. The joint venture of the city of Wolfsburg and Volkswagen AG aims to strengthen the Wolfsburg region as a place to live and do business. With around 140 employees, Wolfsburg AG has since carried out a number of successful projects to promote the structure and make the city and surrounding area more attractive.

The Bollmann team monitors and maintains PV systems for seven buildings used by Wolfsburg AG itself or by other companies. How does a company with just five employees become a partner here? Thomas Bollmann laughs and says "coincidence." To be more precise: "It was word-of-mouth propaganda". You don't earn a good reputation by doing quick, cheap work. Quality is the be-all and end-all. And word has gotten around that Bollmann and his team deliver the best work.

Thomas Bollmann has been in the industry for a quarter of a century and can rightly call himself a pioneer. "When I started with photovoltaics, people were almost insulted and suspected of charlatanism," says the Lower Saxon. Those days are over. Bollmann worked his way deeper and deeper into the subject. This led to him developing his own tools, which he now works with successfully. A spirit of innovation goes hand in hand with the will to innovate and technical understanding. Equipped with their own equipment, the Bollmann team goes on troubleshooting and analysis. The Braunschweig-based company has even set up its own PV laboratory. Here you can, for example, check individual modules for errors. For effective on-site troubleshooting, Thomas Bollmann's team uses a specially developed photo tripod for electroluminescence investigations. This means that no photovoltaic system is exposed to the stress of dismantling.

"We do the full program for Wolfsburg AG," says the 53-year-old: monitoring, maintenance, troubleshooting. This is a real task, because Bollmann looks after PV roofs with around half a megawatt of power at the company alone! He relies on the Solar-Log™ and the professional portal Solar-Log WEB Enerest™. Hardware and software together make the perfect tool for monitoring large industrial solar systems.

Energy from the power of the sun and mobility with clean electricity, that is the future. And that started a long time ago at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg. The car becomes electric. Volkswagen now has a number of e-models in its range and will continue to expand this range. Investments of 70 billion within five years will flow into e-mobility. 80 new models will be launched within a few years.

System details: Installed capacity: around 205 kWp System monitoring: 8 x Solar-Log 1200 Year of construction: from 2008 Installer: Bollmann Elektrotechnik e. Commercial, Brunswick

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