A peep at major solar power project

GEORGE NEWS - The municipal solar project that entails the installation of a 300 kilowatt peak grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) generating plant at the officials' parking area is progressing well and nearly complete.

The construction of the steel support structures, which will also serve as carports, has been completed and the PV panels are currently being laid on the newly built structures.

In total, 692 PV panels will be installed, with each panel rated at 435 Watts, making the system size equal to 692*435 = 301 kilowatt peak. All of the inverters, that will convert DC power from the panels into AC electricity, have been installed in a closed compartment room.

According to Thabo Yiga, the intern candidate engineer who is responsible for the project, a weather monitoring station will also be installed. This station is equipped with sensors to measure parameters such as solar irradiation, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, the PV panels' temperature, and so on. The site-specific data collected will be used to calculate the performance ratio of the PV plant on an annual basis to determine the plant's performance.

The project includes an upgrade with vehicle parking lines to be painted for the carport structures, as well as the installation of LED solar lights to provide additional lighting at night. The project is expected to be finished by 20 July and commissioning tests will begin in the last week of July. The plant will be energised by August.

Structures catch the late afternoon sun. Photo: George Municipal Communications Department

Background information

The PV plant will reduce the peak load demand of the main building and reduce the amount of electricity purchased from Eskom. The plant will also enable the building to meet carbon emission reduction targets by powering most of the required load with energy generated from a clean and renewable source.

The total savings in carbon dioxide emissions would be in the region of 9 027 tonnes of CO2 over the plant's 25-year lifetime. 500 000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy is expected to be produced by the PV plant annually, and the system is projected to pay itself off within seven years of the estimated 25-year lifetime.

The 500 000kWh of electricity that the PV plant will generate annually is the equivalent of the power consumption of 55 households using 25kWh of electricity per day (or approximately 9 000kWh per year).

The project is funded by the Department of Energy under the Energy Efficiency Demand Side Management (EEDSM) programme. The current public parking area located immediately in front of the municipal building will not be affected during the construction at all.

Drone photographs taken on site by the service provider (Brand Besamandla (Pty) Ltd) show the newly erected steel support structures and PV panels already installed at the municipal parking area.