The National Research Foundation (NRF) has installed a grid-tied rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems at its Brummeria Building, in Pretoria, with the two 82.2 kW and one 50 kW inverters providing a combined alternating current capacity of 215.6 kW.
The overall system has a direct current capacity of 230 kW.
The renewable energy system was installed in August by renewable energy company SEM Solutions and, to ensure uninterrupted business continuity, the system is integrated with an existing standby generator, and is able to modulate the PV system output to enable the system to operate alongside the generator.
“The NRF has decided to go this route so that the system could monitor the building load, the generator load and the available PV capacity, and regulate the PV output in order to reduce the generator load to an optimal point. This reduces diesel consumption and, therefore, cost,” says NRF project manager Petie Roos.
“The electricity cost saving seen in the last couple of months is averaging about R50 000 a month, but as we are also calculating the saving average from pre-Covid-19 levels and as there are now less people working on site, we believe that around 60% of this saving is directly due to the use of solar.”
Based on its drive towards green energy, the NRF intends to expand the use of solar energy at the current and other sites to reduce its carbon footprint, but there is also a tangible bottom-line benefit, he said.
“We are increasingly seeing companies exploring the integration of renewal energy systems into both their sustainability and their business plans. Systems that are well engineered and planned are providing measurable benefits; from both an environmental and an economic perspective,” says SEM Solutions director Mohammed Patel.