Energy efficiency is essential no matter what your power source but even more so if you have an off-grid solar system. You must consider all aspects of the installation from its setup to real-time use. Many things are common sense, such as lowering your thermostat at night. Others aren’t as obvious but can drain your pocketbook if you’re not careful.

Your system will include four components: solar or PV panels, charge controller, a battery bank, and an inverter. Other parts will vary based on the design of your setup and energy needs. Let’s do a deep dive into an off-grid solar system and how you can use it wisely.

This type of setup requires planning if you want to go off the grid. Installing solar panels is only the first step. You also must safeguard your system from things like reverse currents to keep the juice flowing to your home.

They say that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Nothing could be truer when discussing an off-grid solar system

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Shopping centre developer Flanagan & Gerard Property Development and Investment has invested R16-million in the installation of solar plants at its malls, in an effort to save energy and reduce its carbon footprint.
So far, about 3 MVA of solar energy generation capacity has been installed at three of the company’s co-owned shopping centres, namely Vaal Mall, Middleburg Mall and Springs Mall.

The developer is also planning to add a solar plant to its co-owned Mall of the North, which should be live before the end of the year.

Additionally, Highveld Mall will introduce solar to its energy mix early next year, increasing the total solar energy capacity at Flanagan & Gerard’s retail assets to more than 5 MVA.

All of the centres fitted so far have rooftop solar installations, while Vaal Mall has a carport installation.

“We bring these shopping centres in line with the Flanagan & Gerard philosophy of making a positive environmental impact by using renewable resources,” said MD Paul Gerard.

He added that although South Africa was growing at a rapid rate in the alternative energy sector, it was not growing fast enough to relieve some of the pressure currently experienced by State-owned power utility Eskom.

“The private sector has a responsibility to continue accelerating the expansion of renewable energy,” Gerard highlighted.

Currently, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa grants independent solar generation for installations up to 1 MVA. Anything over this requires a generation licence, and only a certain number of licences are issued each year.

Flanagan & Gerard is in the process of applying for additional licences for their malls to enable additional installations in future.

Future solar plant installations are anticipated for Ballito Junction, Thavhani Mall and Morningside Shopping Centre.
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Petrochemicals company Total on Monday inaugurated its 1000th solarised service station, based at the Total Palmeraie retail outlet, in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Palmeraie service station has 134 m2 of photovoltaic panels and will produce 45 MWh/y of power and reduce the retail outlet’s carbon emissions by 30 t/y.

This forms part of the company’s goal to solarise 5 000 of its service stations in 57 countries. It plans to accelerate work in the coming month to ensure it is able to implement solar power at about 1 000 service stations a year.

More than a third of the Total retail network stations worldwide will be equipped with high-efficiency SunPower solar panels at the end of the programme.

Through also solarising production sites and office buildings, the number of projects adds up to more than 200 MW at peak, equivalent to the total electricity demand of a city of 200 000 people, Total said in a statement on Monday.

Total marketing and services president Momar Nguer commented that the service stations that were equipped with solar panels were more independent of the grid and showcased the company’s knowledge and expertise in renewable energies.
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Consistent with Total’s ambition to become a responsible energy major, the programme will reduce the company’s retail network’s carbon emissions by more than 50 000 t/y.

“The milestone achievement reflects Total’s commitment to using solar power at our sites and our ability to support our industrial and commercial customers with cleaner, more affordable and safer electricity,” Total renewables VP Julien Pouget added. 

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The high initial capital expenditure required for solar-powered irrigation systems(SPISes) makes it mostly an unviable option for small-scale farmers in South Africa, unless they receive heavy subsidisation, according to International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage president Felix Reinders.
Despite the high upfront cost, the market for SPISes is growing fast globally, with large-scale government investment in SPISes subsidy projects to be found in countries such as India and China, where thousands of small-scale farmers without access to the power grid can now irrigate sufficiently without the need for expensive diesel-run solutions.
In South Africa, farmers need, on average, about 80 m3/ha of water, pumped for about 9 h/d. This means that the farmers can expect to spend about R108 000/ha upfront on an SPIS, Reinders explains, adding that the advantage, however, is that the operating costs are almost zero.
Therefore, it often makes more sense – in the short term – for farmers to simply draw power from the grid, despite the operating cost being higher.

​However, in many cases, rural small-scale farmers have no access to the grid, and the expense involved in connecting them to the grid would far outweigh the expense involved in installing an SPIS.

“The biggest drawback in Africa is infrastructure. In many places, electricity from the grid is simply not available. Farmers stuck without access to grid power often revert to using diesel power, which is about five times more expensive than grid power per kWh,” Reinders tells Engineering News.

Diesel-powered irrigation systems cost a lot less upfront than an SPIS, but these systems are also less environment-friendly and more expensive to run than the solar-powered ones. For small-scale farmers, investment in diesel-powered systems could have a negative impact on the farmer’s bottom-line over time, owing to the higher operating costs.

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Emirates Water and Electricity Company, EWEC, has announced that 'Noor Abu Dhabi', the world's largest single solar project, with a capacity of 1,177MW, has started commercial operation.

The project will enable Abu Dhabi to increase its production of renewable energy and reduce the use of natural gas in electricity generation, helping to make energy more sustainable and efficient and reducing the emirate's carbon dioxide emissions by 1 million metric tonnes per year, the equivalent of removing 200,000 cars off the roads.

The Dh3.2 billion solar plant, located at Sweihan in Abu Dhabi, is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi Government and a consortium of Japan's Marubeni Corp and China's Jinko Solar Holding.

Providing enough capacity to cover the demand of 90,000 people, the plant features more than 3.2 million solar panels, installed across an 8 km2 site. Beyond size, Noor Abu Dhabi broke another record at the time of bid submission attracting the world's most competitive tariff of 8.888 fils/kWh.

The achievement of Commercial Operation Date, COD, means the plant is now completed and has started full commercial operation. To reach this milestone on time, over 2,900 people were working on site during peak construction.

Mohammad Hassan Al Suwaidi, Chairman of EWEC said, "The completion of the project marks a significant milestone in the UAE's Energy Strategy 2050, launched in 2017, to increase the contribution of clean energy in the total energy mix to 50 percent by 2050 while reducing the carbon footprint of power generation by 70 percent. This is in line with the sector's transformation strategy by providing alternative sources of energy that can help us improve the sustainability of the water and electricity sector."

Othman Jumaa Al Ali, EWEC's CEO, added, "Noor Abu Dhabi will generate renewable energy and will enable us to improve the use of our natural resources. The fact that a project of such scale has been successfully completed on time and on budget highlights our commitment to ensuring sustainable energy for the future and it is a true testament of the emirate's delivery capabilities to execute world-class energy projects. Noor Abu Dhabi will further contribute to the UAE's renewable sector, exponentially increasing the existing solar capacity of Abu Dhabi, as well as adding to the continuously growing solar capacity of the UAE."

Kangping Chen, CEO of Jinko Solar, said, "It is our privilege to participate and contribute to the winning and successful execution of this significant project, which will help power the sustainable economic growth of Abu Dhabi. We are thankful to the government team for creating a world-class tender programme, their high-level of professionalism and their strong support throughout the process."

In line with the Year of Tolerance in the UAE, the project - a venture between international companies and managed and constructed by a multi-national team - signifies the multi-cultural essence of the country and its ability to nurture top talent from around the world.

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Namibia’s largest solar power plant, is soon to be officially commissioned by Alten Energías Renovables. The 45 MW installation is part of the government’s plan to reduce dependence on hydropower and, more importantly, imported electricity from neighboring South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The plant is located in the Mariental municipality, in Namibia’s southern Hardap Region, 278 km south of the capital, Windhoek. Mariental has a hot desert climate with average annual rainfall of just 194mm.

The solar array will have a system capacity of 150 kW and will power Chobe Water Villas, a lodge complex which also has a 332 kWh battery storage system provided by Qinous to help reduce electricity consumption.

The added megawatts from this project will reduce Namibia’s dependency on energy imports during daylight hours, and is considered a small step forward to becoming more self-sufficient. The new power production plant will use PV solar technology and occupy a land area of 100 Ha.

The PV-storage system will be owned and operated by Cronimet as an independent power producer.  Cronimet’s joint venture with OLC Solar Energy, will provide operations and maintenance.

According to the Deputy President of Alten, Juan Laso, the plant will also help build on the solid commitment being made by ALTEN Energías to Sub-Saharan Africa in meeting the region’s vast energy needs. The will be the first large-scale grid PV power-generation plant to be added to NamPower’s energy supply mix, following the smaller Renewable Energy Feed In Tariff (Refit) projects.

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The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has finally released a consultation paper for an updated Licensing Exemption and Registration Notice for certain categories of small-scale embedded generators (SSEGs), which was submitted to the regulator for its concurrence by Energy Minister Jeff Radebe late last year.

Stakeholders and members of the public have been invited to comment on the draft amendment to the Electricity Regulation Act, with a deadline of May 24 set for submissions.

The notice seeks to replace the November 2017 Licensing Exemption and Registration Notice, which is widely accepted to be “flawed” and which has also caused significant market uncertainty.

The new notice exempts various categories of SSEG plant under 1 MW from the requirement to apply for and hold a licence under the Act, including a facility that supplies electricity to a customer who is an end-use customer.
One operated to supply an end-use customer, or related customers by wheeling.
And the operation of a generation facility for demonstration purposes only, whether or not the facility is connected to a transmission or distribution network.

The notice also covers existing generation facilities, including those that filed for registration with the regulator within six months of commencement of the registration process by the regulator.

It also covers the trading of electricity by a reseller.

Separately, Nersa’s electricity subcommittee approved, on May 13, registration applications for 16 SSEGs and one cogenerator in line with the 2017 Licensing Exemption and Registration Notice, which remains in force until the new notice is promulgated. 

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Another huge fuel price hike, another pending electricity price jump. Just another day in sunny South Africa. The trouble with energy prices is that when they go up, the price of everything else goes up, but when they go down, other prices don’t.

The energy situation in South Africa is unsustainable and it is not just the poor and working class who are suffering, the entire economy is feeling the pain. It is just a matter of time before it reaches the verge of collapse, unless we do something urgently.

Fortunately, there is hope on the horizon or, more accurately, in the sky.

In my previous article I wrote about breakthroughs in solar power technology. A few months ago, I wrote about electric cars and their amazing capabilities.
These two technologies are potentially world-changing and in a few years they will transform the world’s economies in unimaginable ways.

Consider an average household of the future: all the power needed to run a house will be generated via solar power. But this power will not come from the national grid, it will be generated by the house itself. The average home of the future will be off-grid. In fact, in many places this is already a reality.

American company Tesla has developed a range of roof tiles that look like plain old concrete roof tiles, but are highly efficient solar panels capable of generating electricity for domestic use.

Made with tempered glass, Tesla claims its solar roof tiles are more than three times stronger than standard roofing tiles. Its website says: “Glass solar tiles are so durable they are guaranteed for the lifetime of your house, or infinity, whichever comes first.”

Although domestic solar panels have been around for some time, the trouble with them, as with solar power in general, is that there isn’t a way to store the generated electricity.

Excess electricity is wasted, and when the sun goes down, no electricity is generated at all.

As a result, power grids have to resort to “traditional” power sources such as coal and nuclear power stations.

But that is about to change.

​Towards the end of 2016, areas in South Australia faced wide-scale blackouts and load shedding after extremely violent storms knocked out power transmission towers. Since the area is remote, there weren’t sufficient alternative lines to re-route the power, and the problem persisted, affecting thousands of homes and businesses.

Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, became aware of this and tweeted a solution: build the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery.

He claimed the battery would be able to supply the entire region with backup power whenever the grid went out. He further claimed he could build it in 100 days.

The Aussies took Musk up on his offer. Despite vehement opposition from some of Australia’s senior politicians, such as Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the 100MWh/129MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve was officially commissioned on December 1, 2017. The battery would be owned and operated by French renewable energy provider Neoen.

The “Big Battery”, as it is called, cost nearly A$100m (R1.06billion) to build, but by the end of last year, the Australian energy market operator reported that it had saved almost A$40million in grid costs.

Big Battery catapulted South Australia into a world leader in power storage and, due to its success, Tesla has received a number of orders for similar installations. All that from a single tweet.

Tesla is also the leader in the domestic power storage industry. Its Powerwall unit is a large battery especially designed for homes and is powerful enough to run a home with all its appliances, including air conditioners. Unlike most battery backup systems, the Powerwall connects to the power mains, not to a limited number of lights.

Although the Powerwall can operate on its own as a backup system, it ideally pairs with the roof tile solar panels to operate as a complete power solution. It provides about 7kWh, which means an average family of four will require just two batteries for normal overnight usage.

For many American families, the solar roof tiles and Powerwalls are not just powering their homes, but their electric cars, too.

The obvious benefit is a huge monthly saving in electricity and fuel costs, but the wider ramifications are mind-bending to consider.

Traditional power stations will become a thing of the past, while the entire crude oil industry will collapse, with all the nastiness that goes with it, such as the cartels, middlemen, price-fixing, oil wars and, of course, environmental hazard. Petrol stations will be replaced by charging stations.

All our energy will come from the most natural, abundant and renewable source: the sun, and for the first time in more than a 100 years, energy production will be truly democratised and out of the hands of a greedy few.

* Bilal Kathrada is an educational technologist, speaker, author, newspaper columnist and entrepreneur. He is the founder of CompuKids, a start-up that teaches children Computer Science skills. Bilal blogs at www.bilalkat.com.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

Cape Argus

Are floating solar farms better than land-based ones?
Who needs to take up so much land when the Earth is 70 per cent water…
Where land is scarce, floating solar farms make it possible to generate renewable energy without taking up space that might be needed for farming or other purposes. The cooling effect of the water allows the floating solar cells to run more efficiently than on land. Most floating solar farms are installed on artificial lakes or reservoirs. For example, the world’s largest floating solar farm, recently unveiled in China near the city of Huainan, sits on top of a former coal mining area that has been flooded. By covering the water’s surface, floating solar farms reduce evaporation, saving water.

With load shedding here to stay for the foreseeable future, it’s back to basics for South Africans.
Call it load shedding, or rolling blackouts, the fact is it’s here to stay for the foreseeable future and South Africans are going to have to learn to live with it for a while yet.

The Citizen spoke to Lungile Mashele, an energy specialist at the Development Bank of South Africa, who also holds qualifications in economics, insolvency law, cost engineering and energy, about practical ways to minimise the effects.

“Have your work and home load shedding schedules handy. There’s no point in sitting in three-hour traffic to get to work to discover that there are no lights. Rather work from home until your office has lights,” advised Mashele.

“Keep your phone, power bank and torch charged and ready for a blackout. Invest in power-surge plugs. Continuous outages and related trips may damage your appliances.”

There is a growing conversation in the country over which is better: solar photo-voltaic power or fuel-driven generators.

“The preferred option is a complete retrofit of a home using gas to cook and for water heating, or solar water heating,” Mashele said.

“In addition to that, investing in solar PV with an inverter and battery storage will sustain you during periods of load shedding.”

Mashele explained an inverter converted the direct current produced by the panels to alternating current, and synchronised the power produced within the home with the Eskom grid.

“This option requires a rather large capital outlay. However, with the rising costs of electricity, it has a generally low payback period. A typical suburban household will require an investment of about R80,000. Depending on your consumption you can recover your costs within two to five years,” Mashele said.

“Generators present a cheaper alternative in terms of capital cost (about R10,000), but in the long run, the fuel cost renders this option far more expensive. Diesel generators can present a safety risk and are a noise nuisance not allowed by many body corporates.”

Load shedding survival tips

Plan your activities and travel around anticipated load shedding.
Be creative with dinners and activities to keep yourself and your family entertained.
Have braais and set up a tent for the kids with a campfire, especially during this holiday period.
Invest in rechargeable emergency LED lights. They are bright enough to light up the room for homework and household activities.
One can also buy an inexpensive two-burner gas stove at any major retailer and cook using gas.
Load shedding affects the ability of the water utility to pump water, so make sure you have water stored in the house.
It also means no fibre to the home, so make sure your phone has data or airtime.
Carry cash, as some retailers are unable to take card payments.

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