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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

Dare we hope?
2014-07-01

 
Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela has done it again. She has succeeded in writing yet another book that critics herald as “lucid and compelling”, “of striking moral intelligence” and “as fresh as ever.” Her book, Dare we Hope? Facing our Past to find a New Future, rekindles our hope as South Africans and will be released on 7 July 2014.

In this book, Prof Gobodo-Madikizela explores what she calls the “unfinished business,” Afrikaner rage, why apologies are not enough, and the crisis of moral leadership in politics. Yet, in the face of all this, she shows the way to healing a wounded South African nation.

Prof Gobodo-Madikizela is a Senior Research Professor in Trauma, Forgiveness and Reconciliation Studies at the UFS. Her research has made huge inroads into the reparative elements of victims-perpetrator dialogue in the aftermath of mass trauma and violence. She has served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and spent an extended period at Harvard University.

Her latest book follows on her hugely-successful title, A Human Being Died that Night: A South African Story of Forgiveness. For that book, she won the Alan Paton Award in South Africa, and the prestigious Christopher Award in the United States.


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