Industry · Oil & Gas · Silo Pellets Switzerland
CONNECTED PELLET SILO IN SWITZERLAND:
The NOVA RADAR gauge, installed by Belet Citernes, exclusively throughout Switzerland.
In Switzerland, pellet heating is becoming increasingly popular every year, and with it comes a very practical question: how can you tell how much is left in the silo without having to go and check? Rough visual estimates, urgent calls from customers, and deliveries scheduled without knowing the exact stock levels: pellet stock management still relies too often on guesswork. Since September 2026, Four Data and Belet Citernes have been providing a joint solution to this problem.
A connected pellet silo is a silo fitted with a standalone level sensor that measures the stock several times a day and transmits the data to a monitoring platform. Both the supplier and the user can check the level remotely, without having to open the silo or travel to the site.
Remote monitoring
Why monitor your pellet silos remotely?
An empty silo means a boiler that’s out of action. For a private individual, this means a cold home in the middle of winter. For a property management company, it means an entire block of flats without heating and tenants on the phone. For a distributor, it means an emergency delivery that has to be squeezed into an already full round, often at a loss.
Ces situations ont une cause commune : personne ne connaît le niveau réel du silo au bon moment. La mesure manuelle est ponctuelle, dépend de l’accès au local et reste imprécise sur les matières solides, dont la surface n’est jamais plane.
With a connected level sensor for pellet silos, monitoring becomes continuous. The sensor measures the level several times a day and sends the data to the Four Data monitoring platform.
Belet Citernes in figures
A field-based installer, based in French-speaking Switzerland
With over thirty years’ experience as specialists in storage facilities, Belet Citernes carries out the installation of the NOVA RADAR and provides day-to-day support for your silo project.
The installer
Belet Citernes, the exclusive installer of NOVA RADAR in Switzerland.
Founded in 1992 and based in Penthalaz, in the canton of Vaud, Belet Citernes specialises in the construction, refurbishment, installation and maintenance of tanks and storage facilities. The company has traditionally operated throughout French-speaking Switzerland and is expanding its business nationwide through this partnership.
You will be dealing with a local representative who is familiar with the silo configurations on the Swiss market and the practical requirements on the ground. This turnkey solution sets this partnership apart from do-it-yourself solutions: the measurement is only reliable if the sensor is correctly positioned on the silo, and that is precisely what Belet Citernes specialises in.
Good to know
The storage of pellets in Switzerland is governed by the SICC HE 200-01 guideline on room ventilation, as detailed in the proPellets.ch storage guide. A professional installer takes these requirements into account from the outset of the installation.
The sensor
NOVA RADAR: reliable measurement of solids.
The NOVA RADAR is one of the sensors designed and manufactured by Four Data. Its radar technology is suited to solid materials such as pellets, where conventional technologies reach their limits: dust, moisture and the irregular surface of the granules interfere with ultrasonic measurements, but not with radar.
The data is transmitted to the Four Data monitoring platform, which can be accessed via a computer, tablet or smartphone. Each silo has its own data sheet: level as a percentage, consumption history and emptying trends. Distributors can monitor all their customers’ silos from a single interface.
Back to the field
A partnership that has already been tried and tested in Switzerland.
This partnership is not starting from scratch. Guignard, a Vaud-based distributor of heating oil and pellets run by the same family as Belet Citernes, has been using Four Data sensors since last winter to monitor its customers’ stock levels.
« This initial phase of use has proved very successful. Remote stock level monitoring simplifies our operations and helps us to better anticipate supply requirements. Feedback from our customers has been very positive: thanks to this visibility, they no longer need to worry about monitoring their pellet stock levels and place their complete trust in us to manage their supplies. »
Alan Guignard · Director of Guignard, a Vaud-based distributor of heating oil and pellets
Profiles
Who is the smart pellet silo designed for?
Distributors, property management firms, builders or private individuals: everyone can find a solution to a very specific problem here.
WHO IS THE CONNECTED PELLET SILO FOR?
Profiles and benefits| Profile | Problem encountered | What the connected gauge changes |
|---|---|---|
| Pellet distributors | Unknown customer levels, sub-optimized routes, emergency deliveries | ✓ Planned routes Monitoring of all customer silos, priority deliveries, full trucks |
| Property managers | Buildings heated with pellets, manual readings, risk of collective heating failure | ✓ Alerts before shortage Centralized multi-building monitoring, history for energy assessment |
| Builders and heating professionals | No connected option to offer with the silo | Differentiating product Connected version integrable into the offer |
| Homeowners | Visual estimation, running out on a winter weekend | ✓ Level on smartphone Alert before the critical threshold |
Installation
How does the installation process work in Switzerland?
In Switzerland, the installation of a connected level sensor on a pellet silo is carried out by Belet Citernes, the exclusive distributor and installer of Four Data’s NOVA RADAR sensor. The company supplies the sensor, installs it on site and commissions it throughout Switzerland.
Describe your needs
Number of silos, configuration, usage: distribution, property management, or homeowner.
Validation and scheduling
Belet Citernes validates the feasibility and schedules the intervention.
On-site installation
Their teams install the sensor on the silo, without heavy work or interruption of use.
Active monitoring
The silo appears on your monitoring interface, with your configured alert thresholds.
Commissioning is quick and the silo remains fully operational throughout the process.
FAQ
Connected pellet silos in Switzerland:
your questions.
This page was produced with the expert input of David Rotaru, Key Account Manager for Switzerland and Germany at Four Data, who supports energy distributors in the DACH market with their telemetry projects.