Strathmore University eyes power bill cuts with mega solar system

Solar panels at Strathmore University. Courtesy 

In Summary

• The photovoltaic systems have been installed on rooftops at Madaraka Campus.
• They generate up 75 per cent of what Strathmore University needs.
• The university is looking to cut its monthly bill which stands at Sh2.3 million.
• The project began in October last year and took Quests three months to install the system.

By Annie Njanja

As the cost of electricity keeps rising in Kenya, more companies and colleges are turning to cheaper energy. Strathmore University has joined Williamsons Tea Factory which produces its own one megawatt (MW) and UNEP Headquarters which produces 500 kilowatts, by investing in an innovative solar power technology that is currently feeding 75 per cent of its power demands.

 

The 0.6MW solar photovoltaic system tied to the national power grid started lighting up the university last month. The photovoltaic system is installed on the roof top of its Nairobi Madaraka Campus.

Occupying six buildings at the campus, the green energy project consists of 2,400 solar panels, 1,200 optimisers and 30 inverters and has a life-span of over 20 years.

Instead of setting up a solar farm, Williamsons Tea Factory and Strathmore opted for roof-top systems, best suited in areas where space is scarce and vertical development is the only option.

“The university’s monthly bill of Sh2.3 million is now a thing of the past. Installing the system will save the institution a lot of resources in years to come,” said Prof Izael da Silva, a renewable energy specialist and director of Centre of Excellence in Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development in Strathmore.

The system is integrated with a monitoring software that gives real-time feeds on the performance of every solar panel. For instance, using the software, the team has determined that the daily power production of the system is 2.2 to 2.8 megawatt hours.

Besides, with the help of the software, supervisors monitor the entire system at panel level and can tell when one fails, or when it is not at par with the rest.

“People managing the project are able to login and monitor power produced by each panel on a real-time basis, allowing any potential problems to be spotted and arrested immediately,” said engineer Raul Figueroa, executive director Quests, a real estate project management consulting company in Kenya.

The software is also designed to trigger an alarm that directs engineers to a dysfunctional panel (s). “We engineers are able to find out about panels that are producing less power from our phones or computers,” said Mr Figueroa.

The project began in October last year and took Quests three months to install the system.

However, the downside to the system is that it does not any have storage capacity for night-time usage. This is largely due to the high purchase and maintenance cost of storage equipment. Lack of a power back-up means that the institution uses power generated directly.

Although reliance on Kenya Power is reduced to the bare minimum during day time, when darkness sets in the campus has to depend on the national distributor for electricity.

“Kenya Power may offer very low prices for solar energy fed to the grid, but it is inevitable to sell excess solar energy to the national grid especially during day time,” said Prof Da Silva.

Kenya Power buys the power fed to the grid at 12 cents per kilowatt hour or unit. “The price can be justified because they incur production, operations and transmission costs,” he said.

Strathmore University managed to get financing for the project from French Development to the tune of $1.3 million (Sh114 million), with a payback time of six years. Such a solar photovoltaic system is ideal for institutions, like schools and hospitals, whose power consumption levels are very high.

The system stops or minimises over-reliance on electricity from a national distributor, cuts down power bills, helping the institution to channel that money into other projects