The Shoprite Group, South Africa’s largest retailer in terms of market capitalization, revenue, profit, and number of staff and customers, is expanding its fleet of solar-assisted trailers.
The Shoprite Group now has 1041 trailers with rooftop solar panels to supply refrigeration loads. The solar panels also power tail lifts for the remainder of the non-refrigerated fleet. When the vehicles are parked, the solar panels on the refrigerated trailers allow operators to turn off the diesel engine. The solar panels, for example, power the refrigerated units when they are loading or unloading at their shops and distribution hubs.
This results in considerable savings from the diesel that would otherwise have been burned while the refrigeration units were idle.
Since 2017, solar-powered units have been installed in the Group’s fleet. This is part of the company’s endeavor to lessen its carbon impact. So far, Shoprite claims that the solar-powered fleet has saved 3,290 tCO2 by not using fuel.
The Group’s fleet is still powered by internal combustion engines in terms of the energy consumed for actual propulsion of these massive vehicles. However, the Group is keeping a close eye on developments in the battery-electric vehicle and hydrogen truck categories.
Full battery-electric trucks capable of covering the Group’s enormous routes throughout a huge country like South Africa are still few, particularly in right-hand drive. Meanwhile, the Group is working on improving the energy usage of its present fleet by installing solar panels on rooftops to support refrigeration loads, as well as other initiatives like as route optimization and driver behavior.
This is a Globe PR Newswire Feed; researched and edited by Clean-Future Team