Busch Group Drives Sustainable Future Technologies
10-21-2024
Vacuum is needed for many innovative, environmentally friendly technologies. The Busch Group, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of vacuum pumps, vacuum systems, blowers, compressors and gas abatement systems, is strongly committed to reducing energy consumption and promoting renewable energies. The company is also involved in the development of future technologies that require vacuum and could help counteract climate change.
On October 24, the International Day of Climate Action takes place to raise awareness of climate change, as well as to highlight the importance of sustainable strategies and environmental protection. To mark this day, the Busch Group will present five consecutive articles about the sustainable future technologies that it is involved in.
Solar cell production and solar power generation
One of these technologies is the advancement of renewable energy sources such as solar power. Vacuum plays a key role in solar panel manufacturing: Thanks to vacuum, the panels can be produced faster, are more efficient and have a longer service life. Vacuum technology is used in silicon crystal growing, wafer production, coating and lamination. The Busch Group offers reliable vacuum solutions for all these stages of solar panel manufacturing.
In addition, the R&D departments of the Busch Group are working on vacuum technologies that are important for the development of innovative future-oriented energy sources. For example, vacuum pumps from Pfeiffer are part of the world’s largest nuclear fusion research project.
The Busch Group is also driving its own use of renewable energies forward. In new construction projects, they are part of the concept right from the start – like the solar power plant on the roof of the new production site in China, which is currently being built.
Solar power offers many benefits. It can be produced almost everywhere in large quantities and, unlike fossil fuels, does not create any harmful emissions. For this reason, a photovoltaic system was also installed on the new systems building hall at the company’s headquarters in Maulburg, which feeds surplus current into the local grid at peak times. However, solar energy is also used at numerous other Busch locations.
Busch UK has had a photovoltaic system since 2021, and here too, surpluses are fed into the local grid. The newly constructed building of Busch Group’s South African sales company in Johannesburg is also largely supplied by its own solar modules. With sufficient sunlight, the solar system from Busch Austria, commissioned in 2023, covers the entire site’s power requirements and supplies all equipment, including e-charging stations for employee vehicles, machines in the workshop, computers, refrigerators, lighting, blinds and air conditioning units. The solar installation on the new high-bay warehouse at Ateliers Busch in Chevenez, Switzerland, generates 23% of the site’s electricity requirements, while the installation at Busch India provides nearly 43%. And Busch Spain also has a system for self-consumption and feeding into the local grid.
On the roofs of the Pfeiffer Vacuum+Fab Solutions production site in Asan, Korea, bifacial solar modules are deployed to collect sunlight from both sides to generate electricity. The top side captures direct sunlight, while the back absorbs the light reflected from the roof surface, covering 10% of the annual demand in Asan. The Pfeiffer brand’s DREEBIT site near Dresden, Germany, has been generating green electricity with the aid of photovoltaics since 2022. High-performance photovoltaic systems are installed throughout the site at Pfeiffer’s headquarters in Asslar, and the Cluj production site in Romania also operates with a photovoltaic system. These efforts are an important step in the commitment to reducing the ecological footprint and increasing the use of renewable energy sources. Overall, 63% of Pfeiffer’s energy supply is already emission free.
These investments are a small part of the Busch Group’s efforts to increase sustainability, with which the Group contributes to the reduction of climate-damaging emissions.
