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Pionieerspark Medical Centre can call themselves a proud owner of a 38kW photovoltaic grid feed system. Considerable savings on the monthly electricity bill are achieved as most of the electricity requirements are produced directly at the customer. Excess energy is fed back into the grid and credited on the monthly electricity bill by City of Windhoek.

The system consists of 144 265W PV modules mounted flat on the roof of the building with 2 Fronius three phase grid feed inverters and remote monitoring via the Fronius App on the cell phone. Remote monitoring allows CTS to advise the client on possible faults and recommended actions to be taken.

Central Technical Supplies was once again awarded the tender to electrify 4 remote localities in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. Custom build containers where installed on site with SMA Sunny Island 8.0 inverter installed. In addition the offered lead acid battery technology has been replaced by state of the art lithium batteries reducing system maintenance. The use of AC coupled technology did allow for the SunnyBoy solar inverter to be in installed inside relevant buildings on which PV modules are mounted. All components are interlinked by means of wireless technology to allow for remote monitoring where GSM signal is of sufficient strength. System sizes vary form 3kW, 12kW, 15kW to 20kW of PV power while inverters are as much as 3 in a single phase cluster.

Sites that were electrified are:

• Nhoma
• Aasvoel Nes
• Kanovlei
• Grashoek

A 1.5t boiler was installed at the Hartlief factory to cater for the growing needs of steam. The project included:

• Installation of new steam boiler next to the existing boiler
• Modifications to HFO line to cater for new boiler
• Commissioning

Over the past year's minor refurbishment, maintenance and upgrading projects where completed as well such as:

• Installation of condensate pumps to reduce back pressure of equipment inside the factory
• Raising current condensate storage tanks to increase head pressure for feed water pumps
• Three monthly service of both steam boiler and yearly inspection with Ministry of Labor inspectors
  

When A La Mer Hotel in Swakopmund decided to expand, they approached CTS with a unique challenge: to create a functional laundry that was both energy and water efficient, and would also fit into a small space, while being whisper quiet, so as not to disturb any guests. In addition, the laundry has to perform excellently, producing quality wash, tumbling and ironing results. Only one brand came to mind: Miele.

Miele recently launched new bench mark machines, which have short program cycles, excellent spin performance, a redesigned patented honeycomb drum and have low consumption values. A La Mer Hotel was the first in Namibia to purchase these new machines.

CTS installed washer extractors with water recovery units, as well as automatic dosing systems, to ensure the best quality wash, every time. The tumble drier has an air recycling system, saving up to 60% of energy. And with a matching drying ironer, optimum finishing results are achieved. Small accessories made this laundry a complete turn key solution.

Various small off-grid PV systems, also referred to SHS (Solar Home Systems) have been supplied country wide. These systems are typically based on small high efficiency lithium ion batteries as storage solution and Victron components such as solar charge regulator, inverter and monitoring devices.

This is a typical photovoltaic (PV) medium scale farm system found on many farms around Namibia. Over the past three years this system grew in PV size from 350Wpeak to ~1200Wpeak.

System specs are:

• PV modules with a total capacity of 1220Wpeak
• 1200VA, 24V Inverter charger
• 40A Solar Charge Regulator
• 360Ah battery bank@24V
• Battery Monitor showing: state of charge (%), charging/discharging current (A), Battery Voltage (V) and time to go (h)
• Switchgear for submersible pump control

The PV modules are mounted on frames facing true north for optimal energy harvesting. During times of limited sunshine, especially the rainy season, battery charging can be increased by starting the generator. Should the AC load increase behind the inverter rating, the generator can support the system to cater for the increased load. No automatic generator start function is included.

Furthermore a second PV system for the Farm workers has been installed to cater for lighting and a TV.

• 2x 90Wpeak PV modules
• 20A Solar Charge Regulator
• 2x 105Ah batteries
• 350VA, 12V inverter