Nestled high in the Swiss Alps, in the heart of the Val d’Anniviers, lies the remote mountain pasture of Orzival. Surrounded by breathtaking alpine scenery, it can only be reached only by a 4×4 vehicle, requiring at least a two-hour drive from the capital of Valais, Sion (covering approximately 30 km of mountain road), or by hiking through rugged alpine terrain.
A brief history of the Orzival mountain pasture
The first recorded mention of the Orzival mountain pasture dates back to 1431, when the people of Chalais and Réchy grazed their cattle above Saint-Jean.
Cheese production unfortunately ceased nearly 20 years ago. However, since 15 June 2020, 40 dairy cows and 40 heifers have returned to the site, and sérac and tomme cheese are once again being produced. The herd now has access to 244 hectares of grazing land, ranging in altitude from 2,000 to 2,853 metres.
This revival of production was made possible thanks to the dedication of a volunteer committee, whose aim was to revitalise the Orzival Alpine pasture. In particular, they undertook the renovation of the production buildings, bringing them up to current health and safety standards while carefully preserving the natural beauty of the site.
The mobile milking system
In the mountain pastures, cows spend the summer grazing freely on high-altitude grassland, moving as the grass grows. To follow the herd throughout the summer grazing season, an offgrid mobile milking system has been developed and is now in operation. The system is successively moved to three different places as close as possible to the areas where the animals are grazing, allowing milking to be carried out directly in the different parts of the alpine pasture. This solution is ideally suited to life in the mountains, where the herd regularly changes location according to the availability of grass.
The system consists of several trailers: one housing the milking equipment, another containing the pumps and milk storage tank, a third equipped with Studer’s next3 rack inverter, and a fourth fitted with a diesel generator.
The offgrid mobile power supply system for mobile milking
Raphaël Roh, from Énergie verte pour tous, collaborated with Pulvex to design a trailer housing the equipment required to convert and store energy. The mobile milking trailer is fitted with 3.75 kW of solar panels on its roof, which are connected to a separate energy trailer containing 50 kWh of second-life batteries sourced from electric vehicles.
The aluminium battery box is not only insulated without thermal bridges, but also thermo-regulated for optimal use regardless of the season. The batteries communicate with our Swiss made next3 rack inverter-charger via a custom-developed battery management system (BMS).
Our next3 19″ rack-mounted inverter-charger of 16kVA, equipped with two integrated MPPT trackers, optimises the energy produced by two solar arrays rated at 1,875 W each and charges the batteries with the generated energy. The inverter-charger supplies the power required during milking, drawing either on solar energy or stored battery power.
A 13 kVA diesel generator is connected to the AC flex input of the inverter and is automatically started by the next3 whenever solar production is insufficient or the 54 V batteries fall below the preset threshold of 53 V defined in the inverter settings. The generator charges the battery at a power level defined by the next3 where its efficiency is maximum.
The solar installation is primarily used to charge the batteries and reduces generator operating time by three, as milking takes place early in the morning and in the evening, when sunlight is limited. This significantly lowers both noise levels and exhaust emissions from the generator.
Thanks to this system, cowherds are able to milk their cattle at various locations without access to the electricity grid and, at the end of the day, transport the milk down to the dairy to produce Orzival cheese.
Outside the alpine season, during autumn, winter and spring, the trailer is rented to Multiplants Sàrl in Vétroz. It is used to store part of the company’s photovoltaic energy production for night-time use and to provide backup power in the event of a blackout, thereby maximising the return on the initial investment.
Supplying power to a barn and a cowherd’s cottage not connected to the grid
After a day’s work tending the herd, the alpine farmers can now relax in a renovated chalet equipped with modern comforts. The offgrid system, comprising three xtender xtm 4000-48 inverter-chargers, supplies three-phase power to the chalet, providing electricity for lighting, domestic hot water production via a water heater synchronised with energy generation, cooking, the use of a washing machine, and other everyday needs of alpine life.
Two solar arrays have been installed, including a set of wall-mounted panels designed to provide a minimum level of energy during winter when snow accumulates on the roof, in order to keep the batteries charged. A variotrack vt 40 MPPT solar charge controller, connected to the larger 2.2 kW solar array, charges the four lead-acid batteries, while a smaller 20 A MPPT controller is connected to the 540 W wall-mounted array.
The installation was commissioned in early October 2023 and is scheduled to be expanded in the summer of 2026, when the barn’s existing shingle roof is renovated, a new variostring vs 120 MPPT charge controller has already been installed for this purpose. This upgrade will increase the amount of energy available to the alpine farmers, enabling them to work and live in greater comfort.
Date:
March 05, 2026
Components:
Mobile energy system when used at the Orzival Alpine pasture as an offgrid power source:
- Mobile energy conversion trailer with:
- 1x 16kVA next3 rack 19” smart inverter/charger with integrated solar MPPT
- 50kWh of recycled lithium batteries from electric cars with homemade BMS
Mobile milking trailer with:
- 3.75kW of solar panels connected to the energy conversion trailer
Mobile genset trailer:
- INFINITY G13PS genset of 13kVA from the Italian brand GENMAC
Mobile energy system when used as a backup power source at Multiplants Sàrl:
Available grid connection of 3x 125A and 97kW of solar panels
Mobile backup energy conversion trailer with:
- 1x 16kVA next3 rack 19” smart inverter/charger with integrated solar MPPT
- 50kWh of recycled lithium batteries from electric cars with homemade BMS
- Mobile genset trailer:
- INFINITY G13PS genset of 13kVA from the Italian brand GENMAC
Chalet and cowshed energy system:
- Solar panels (total of 2.76kW)
- 4x lead batteries (total of 1040Ah)
- 3x inverter-charger xtender xtm 4000-48 (12kVA)
- 1x solar charger 40A variotrack vt 40
- 1x solar charger of 20A
- 1x user interface rcc 02
- 1x xcom 4G (remote monitoring)
- 1x bsp 1200 (battery status processor)
- 1x genset of 2kW
Date:
March 05, 2026
Components:
Mobile energy system when used at the Orzival Alpine pasture as an offgrid power source:
- Mobile energy conversion trailer with:
- 1x 16kVA next3 rack 19” smart inverter/charger with integrated solar MPPT
- 50kWh of recycled lithium batteries from electric cars with homemade BMS
Mobile milking trailer with:
- 3.75kW of solar panels connected to the energy conversion trailer
Mobile genset trailer:
- INFINITY G13PS genset of 13kVA from the Italian brand GENMAC
Mobile energy system when used as a backup power source at Multiplants Sàrl:
Available grid connection of 3x 125A and 97kW of solar panels
Mobile backup energy conversion trailer with:
- 1x 16kVA next3 rack 19” smart inverter/charger with integrated solar MPPT
- 50kWh of recycled lithium batteries from electric cars with homemade BMS
- Mobile genset trailer:
- INFINITY G13PS genset of 13kVA from the Italian brand GENMAC
Chalet and cowshed energy system:
- Solar panels (total of 2.76kW)
- 4x lead batteries (total of 1040Ah)
- 3x inverter-charger xtender xtm 4000-48 (12kVA)
- 1x solar charger 40A variotrack vt 40
- 1x solar charger of 20A
- 1x user interface rcc 02
- 1x xcom 4G (remote monitoring)
- 1x bsp 1200 (battery status processor)
- 1x genset of 2kW