ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Grow a green market
“In-between the above ST systems lies an area in which
plumbing contractors could see a profitable growth –
the tourism market. Hotels, lodges and guesthouses can
not only save considerable costs on their electricity bills
but also be able to market themselves as ‘green’.
“According to the South African National Tourism Sector
Strategy, one of the major trends impacting on tourism
globally is the increasing interest in ‘green’ ‘sustainable’,
‘responsible’ and ‘ethical’ tourism. Increasingly tourists
are choosing to reduce negative environmental impacts
on the host country. They prefer to choose destinations
showing minimal environmental impact.
“SOLTRAIN projects across the SADC region have
proved that retrofitting ST systems to existing tourism
facilities is easily achieved and represents a new market
opportunity.
Financing projects
“Property owners tend to asses two main things
when making the decision to shift to solar, namely the
capital cost (capex) and the ‘payback period’ (amount
of time required to save on traditional energy costs
and cover the capex of their system). In addition,
other factors include the desire for energy autonomy/
independence, energy security and long-term cost
benefits in terms of saving, once the payback period
has lapsed.
August 2019 Volume 25 I Number 6
“Each system will need to be tailored to demands
and affordability and this will determine the
payback period, with most payback periods
ranging between two and seven years,
depending on the system specifications. At
present, it is believed that the target is to reach
electricity cost parity as closely as possible
in terms of meeting the market needs of cost
versus energy security and independence implied
by these systems.
“As an example, the estimated cost savings on
the Wits Junction system are R40-million over
the next 20 years and already the project has
seen substantial electricity savings over the trial
period of eight months. As the electricity cost
from the co-generator is equal to municipal cost,
the thermal energy is free and the centralised
plant requires a lot less maintenance intervention,
hence fewer costs. This, weighed against the
project cost of under R15-million, makes it a very
attractive project.
“Solar technology is mature and proven, however,
even more important than this, is that solar is
becoming better known and accepted in the
property market and the financial service industry
(private sector as well as banks), which is
definitely more open to offering finance towards
solar systems,” concludes Dr Surridge. PA
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“In terms of
efficiency
however,
experts
agree that
ST systems
can deliver
approximately
three to five
times more
energy than
PV systems
of the same
dimension.”
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