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Ministry of Agriculture through, through SASSCAL funding, did acquire 3 automatic weather stations in 2018 which where finally installed in 2019 after sites have been determined. These stations from part of the existing SASSCAL weather station network that has been established over the past years. All stations conform to SASSCAL requirements and are inline with WMO standards.

The stations are installed at :

• Dudukabe (Zambezi)
• Okalongo (Ohangwena)
• Omafo (Ohangwena)

Station info can be obtained from www.sasscalweathernet.org

An existing off-grid solar PV system was expanded to a total of 4,44kW on the farm Ombirisu north of Okahandja and the battery was upgraded to a Lithium-ion technology.

Final System Specifications:

• 6 x 295W Canadian Solar have been added to an existing PV array to deliver a final capacity of 4,44kW
• Replacing old charge regulators with 3 x Victron MPPT 150/70
• Replace old battery with 1 x BlueNova Lithium-ion battery 24V-24kWh
• Pole mounted solar array
• Online connection with remote access

CTS removed old and obsolete laundry equipment and installed new machines.

The installed equipment sonsisted of:

• 3 x new Primus RS35 washer extractors
• 3 x Maytag energy saving tumble dryers
• 2 x Miele through-feed drying ironers
• including laundry trolleys, ironing trolleys, hand-irons and ironing tables
  
  

In early 2017 Stier Vente Chartered Accountant did take the decision to move to renewable energy. A 17kW grid feed system was installed on the roof of the office building to reduce the monthly electricity bill.

A total of 67 260W PV modules and a SMA SunnyTripower 17kW inverter was installed. Remote monitoring allows CTS to advise the client on possible faults and recommended actions to be taken.

CTS was approached by the Botswana Meteorological Department and the University of Hamburg with the request to install automatic weather stations across Botswana. A total of 10 stations were engineered and build at our workshop in Windhoek prior to installation commencement. With our own tower design, the installation time is reduced to nearly 8 hours per tower.

The stations are equipped with sensors from Vaisala, Kipp and Zonen. At the heart of each station is the CR1000 logger from Campbell Scientific. Each station is capable to measure the following:

• Wind speed
• Wind direction
• Humidity
• Air Temperature
• Irradiance
• Barometric pressure
• Ground Temperature
• Rain
• Leaf wetness

In addition to the above parameters the following parameters are calculated by the logger by means of mathematical models.

• Dew point temperature
• Wet bulb temperature
• Sunshine duration

The data from the station is transmitted to ftp servers situated in Gaborone/Botswana as well as Hamburg/Germany on an hourly bases over locally available GSM network providers. Once the data is uploaded to the server in Hamburg, it is processed and posted on a publicly available website. This website collects data of numerous stations across Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Angola and South Africa for research purposes. A total of 8000km was covered in just under 4 weeks.

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.