Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Sacs thinks smart with solar power
SOUTH African College High School (Sacs) has installed a solar system at its boarding house which is set to cut its energy consumption from the grid by about one third, an estimated saving of about R75 000 annually.
The solar system has been installed at the school’s Rosedale boarding house by Energy Partners Home Solutions, part of the PSG group of companies, in an effort to reduce the school’s electricity costs.
Barry van Selm, the deputy headmaster at Sacs, said that installing a solar system at the school was an easy choice and that Sacs had become aware of its carbon footprint.
“A renewable energy option was important to us. In the past five years we have also seen huge increases in electricity tariffs, so we needed to find a sustainable way of bringing those costs down.”
Head of marketing and sales at Energy Partners Home Solutions, Cala van der Westhuizen, said schools such as Sacs were the perfect place to install solar systems as these types of properties consume most of their energy during the day’s peak solar hours and can therefore maximise the financial benefits of a renewable energy solution.
Van der Westhuizen said the Energy Partners team had achieved interesting results within the parameters set by Sacs as well as regulatory requirements and began with an in-depth analysis into the requirements of the boarding house.
“According to our findings, we could install a 25kW inverter at the boarding house, which is the maximum size allowed under NRS regulations for the specific infrastructure of the site.
“With the actual solar array we had a bit more leeway, so we installed 30.88kWp of multicrystalline solar panels.”
Van der Westhuizen said this enabled the system to produce at the converter’s maximum level for as long as possible during peak hours and also produce excess power that the school would possibly be able to sell back to the City of Cape Town.
Van Selm said as part of the system, the school received a tracking tool allowing it to monitor the system in real time.
“Being able to track the system’s energy production is very interesting, and allows us to see the results.
“Our first electricity bill has not arrived yet, but based on what we have seen from the monitoring tool, our use of electricity from the grid has been cut by about one-third, which amounts to a saving of around R75 000 at the current electricity tariffs. We are very excited about the results we have seen so far, and looking forward to reducing our carbon footprint and electricity bills even further in the future.”