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06 June 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Rian Horn
Solar Panels at UFS Qwaqwa Campus
Revolutionising electricity with sun power: Solar panels at the Qwaqwa Campus.
Over the past few years the University of the Free State (UFS) has been planting panels, now the time has come to reap. Solar farms produced a return on investment in the form of R1.4 million in savings as a result of photovoltaics (PV) between January and March 2019. Nicolaas Esterhuysen, an electrical engineer at the Department of University Estates also reported a 2.34% decline in electricity usage between 2013 and 2018. 

Solar panels are the future 

According to Esterhuysen, the solution to a power crisis lies in “either becoming more energy efficient or generating our own at a cheaper cost”. All campuses have managed to save a total of R5.4 million in 2018 through producing our own power (solar PV) and actively managing the instantaneous load demand with building management system (BMS) software.

Overall, ground-mounted PV installations at all campuses contribute 2609 kilowattpeak (kWp) under standard conditions. The Bloemfontein Campus accounts for 979kWp of that amount while the South Campus generates 762kWp, with the Qwaqwa Campus producing 748kWp, and the Paradys experimental farm bringing in 120kWp to the grand total (to be commissioned June 2019).

Rooftop PVs generate electricity through the 80kWp Muller Potgieter Building, the 255kWp Bloemfontein Campus computer lab, the 35kWp Qwaqwa Campus computer lab, 135kWp Qwaqwa Campus Mandela Hall, and 416kWp Thakaneng Bridge panels. This is a total of 921kWp. 

Winter is coming with tariff terrors 

A 15.63% electricity tariff increase is projected this year in light of the annual winter adjustments commissioned by Eskom and Centlec. To gear up for the associated spike in power use over this season, University Estates advises the Kovsie community to use energy efficiently. “Think twice before switching on the heating and make sure to switch it off when you leave the office,” advises Esterhuysen.

In addition to generating electricity, saving initiatives such as implementing light-emitting diode (LED) lighting with motion sensors and actively managing demand at peak times have been implemented.

What’s next?

The next step is to rethink dated mechanical installations that are used to heat some of our older buildings. Replacing similar installations across all of the campuses are some of the ways the university intends to escalate energy efficient in future. 

News Archive

Delegates encouraged to ‘walk the talk’ on fraud prevention
2017-11-27

Description: Fraud Tags: fraud, corruption, crime, business, Free State, MEC of Finance, Elzabe Rockman, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Standard Bank, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Monte Bello 

Representatives from the UFS Business School with Nick Olivier, Certified
Fraud Examiner (right), at the International Fraud Awareness Week’s
Free State Conference.
Photo: Lerato Sebe


‘Walking the Talk on Fraud Prevention’ was this year’s theme during the annual International Fraud Awareness Week’s Free State Conference held at Monte Bello, Bloemfontein, on 16 and 17 November.

The conference was hosted by the Business School of the University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with the Free State Provincial Treasury, Standard Bank, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Detecting and taking action against corruption
The Free State MEC of Finance, Honourable Elzabe Rockman, says corruption is not only a provincial or national issue, but rather a global issue. “Through this interaction with the International Fraud Awareness Week, we reach a much broader audience, both inside and outside government.” She says this should make a direct contribution to increasing awareness of what constitutes fraud, and improving our ability to detect it and to take action.

Implications caused by fraud
One of the speakers at the seminar, Nick Olivier, a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), did a presentation labelled, ‘WTF – Where to focus in the corruption noise’, highlighting the impact which fraudulent crime has on companies. “With the private sector, the impact is huge because the company will have to spend money on investigations or lawyers to get their money back.” He mentions that in government, various things are affected by fraud, such as the economy, the country’s resources, the lives of citizens and the society. 
“We need to start obeying the regulations which were implemented in our environments so that we do not need to do investigations, because every citizen has a duty to do the right thing,” says Olivier.

Tender procurement and bribery were listed as the top corruption crimes in both the private and government sectors.

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