The Spanish firm Zener has introduced an elevator capable of storing and reusing its excess energy, producing energy savings of up to 70%.
EcoReg is a new type of elevator from the Spanish firm Zener, that offers significant energy savings based on in-house VVVF technology (variable-frequency drive). This system is able to control synchronized motors (normally elevator motors are unsynchronized), adjusting their speed and acceleration extremely precisely, thus optimizing the energy consumption of the equipment and the comfort of passengers.
According to the load of the elevator cab, the equipment works in traction mode or regenerative mode. In the former, the motor uses electrical energy from the network; in the latter, instead of consuming energy from the network it uses energy it generates itself. Thus, for example, when braking a conventional elevator releases energy in the form of heat. However, the Zener elevator takes advantage of this energy, allowing total savings in electricity consumption of between 50% and 70%, depending on the load, speed and duration of the trips.
The optimal configuration of this system is in installations with several elevators, that have frequent and optimized movements, where the elevators are interconnected in order to transfer the energy that is generated between them.
The advantages of the system don’t stop there. By taking advantage of the energy that otherwise is released in the form of heat, EcoReg drastically reduces the amount of heat given off to the building. Further, the electric energy not utilized in unsynchronized motors creates disturbances and harmonics in the building’s network, which are themselves eliminated under the new system.
Zener Elevators, based in Valladolid, builds, installs and maintains elevators. Founded in 1976, at the same time that large multinationals in the sector started to expand in Spain, the company has continued to grow, making it today one of the leaders among 100% Spanish-owned companies in the sector. Zener has two factories: an 18,000 m2 facility in Zaragoza, and a 15,000 m2 facility in Vitoria.