The German International School Cape Town (Deutsche Internationale Schule Kapstadt – DSK) has taken a significant step towards sustainability with the inauguration of a new Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) alongside their existing PV system. This advanced system marks a milestone in DSK’s ongoing journey to harness solar energy for a greener future.
Grid Peak Shaving: The primary function of the BESS is to limit the maximum power drawn from the grid, effectively preventing the school’s main supply from tripping. On typical days, solar PV generation helps in preventing grid overload. However, during winter on cloudy days, when the school’s load is higher than the grid supply, the BESS plays a crucial role. After a day of load shedding, even if there’s insufficient capacity to charge the battery fully, the system helps manage the load efficiently.
Reduced Energy Bills: Before the BESS installation, DSK sold back excess solar PV power at a fraction of what it purchases power at. The larger capacity of the BESS now allows the school to consume all the PV-generated power, significantly increasing savings and improving the payback period of the initial solar investment.
Energy Management System: The new energy management system provides greater control over energy usage. It offers a central monitoring platform for solar generation, load, and battery storage, enabling users to change the battery’s primary function between backup and increased self-consumption as needed.
Through our comprehensive service level agreement, we offer an extended 10-year total product warranty to the school to ensure peace of mind in operating a complex asset. The system also grants access to additional services, future-proofing the school’s ability to adapt to changing network requirements and opportunities. These include:
We congratulate DSK on their new energy system and commend their team for the effort in realising this.
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Sun Exchange (), an award-winning global solar micro-leasing marketplace, today announced it will solar power several Western Cape Education Department schools. The first school in the series will be Protea Heights Academy in Cape Town.
Sun Exchange enables schools and businesses to have solar power installed with no upfront or on-going operational costs. With immediate savings on their energy bills from the first day the solar project is operational, schools can focus their resources on what they do best - education. Not only does this help schools save money in the short term, it also provides schools with some immunity against future electricity tariff hikes from ESKOM.
Sun Exchange schools projects provide an opportunity for people across the globe to own and lease solar cells to innovative, future-minded and sustainability-oriented schools like Protea Heights Academy. Through Sun Exchange, practically anyone, anywhere in the world can purchase solar cells which are then installed on the roof of schools and other organisations in developing regions. Solar cell owners earn an income stream from the electricity generated, while schools gain access to affordable clean energy for years to come.
Protea Heights Academy, a school of the Western Cape Department of Education, specialises in maths, sciences and technology. A hub for e-learning and advanced learning, the school already has a formidable reputation for excellence and futuristic, critical thinking in preparation for the fourth industrial revolution.
"Our school is a place where learners are empowered to compete globally and solve global problems," said Wendy Horn, Principal of Protea Heights Academy. "With our focus on technology and innovation, it is a natural progression to transition the school away from fossil fuels."
"The solar project supports the school''s goal to produce global citizens who embrace the United Nations Sustainable Development goals. Having the world come to our school, through investment, is a massive achievement. Sun Exchange and its members are helping us make that transition, by making solar accessible and affordable," says Horn.
The learners at Protea Heights Academy are excited about the prospect of learning about the practical application and benefits of finance and energy innovation. According to Jonathan de Kock, a learner at the school, "the project even allows us learners to make investments into solar cells that will power our school, which teaches us important investment skills."
Government plays a critical role as champions of innovation that benefits schools and learners, and that drive forward a country''s energy transformation. The Sun Exchange project at Protea Heights Academy and other schools are supported by both the Western Cape Department of Education, and the Western Cape Department of Economic Opportunities.
"I must congratulate Protea Heights Academy on their initiative to reduce their carbon footprint and to model climate leadership in education," said Debbie Schäfer, Western Cape Minister of Education. "We have a responsibility to be more proactive in limiting our carbon footprint, but it has been too expensive for us to implement widely in schools. Thanks to this innovative approach, Protea Heights will, working with Sun Exchange, transition to lower cost, clean energy affordably, as well as use this opportunity to teach the learners about the technology and principles of entrepreneurship, and our role as a country in the Sustainable Development Goals. This really is an outstanding example of making learning come to life."
Beverley Schäfer, Minister of Economic Opportunities for the Western Cape stated, "The province is committed to growing our green economy, and to transitioning our province, including our schools, away from coal-based, decentralised electricity generation. By investing in technologies that build our resilience as a province, we are future-proofing our schools against rising energy prices."
"Sustainability and the global transition to clean energy are at the core of our mission," said Abraham Cambridge, Founder and CEO of Sun Exchange. "By solar powering schools across Africa, we''re driving forward this transition while showing future generations what is possible through technology innovation. We are delighted to be working with the Western Cape Department of Education and the Western Cape Ministry of Economic Opportunities to make clean power accessible to Protea Heights as the first of the Western Cape schools and many more schools to come."
Sarmie Mommiez has been named as the designated charity for the project at Protea Heights Academy. Sarmie Mommiez is a registered non-profit organisation that uplifts and empowers various impoverished communities in the Western Cape. Individuals who buy into the Protea Heights Academy solar project can choose to donate a proportion of their Sun Exchange revenue to Sarmie Mommiez.
The Protea Heights project will be the eighth Sun Exchange solar project in South Africa. The previous seven projects have already been successfully deployed, and are generating affordable, clean power for organizations across South Africa, while providing solar cell owners with a solar-powered income.
Sun Exchange has gained significant recognition and accolades as a leading solar finance innovator. In February the company was named among the Most Innovative Companies in Africa by Fast Company, it has been named among ESI Africa''s Power Elites two years running, and was recently named among the Top 100 Energy Transition Startups (SET100) by the German Energy Agency (dena).
South Africa''s energy sector is the most coal-dependent and carbon intensive of the G20 countries. As such, installing solar to displace grid electricity has a disproportionately positive effect on bringing down carbon emissions. At the same time, the national utility ESKOM is foundering in its ''death spiral'' and the aging, over-burdened power stations are failing. The entire energy landscape is in disarray with daily energy black-outs disrupting industry, forcing the closure of small businesses and affecting the lives of millions of people. Young people are disproportionally impacted by these challenges, not least of all because of the vulnerability of their schools. Teaching is crippled by the black-outs and yet schools cannot afford a back-up solar system.
The Smart Schools project is designed to solve exactly this problem. We pay for and install a solar system to reduce the school''s dependency on the grid and keep the classrooms functioning through the black-outs. Smart meters measure all energy use and the school pay for each unit of solar electricity used at a rate pegged at 20% lower than the standard grid tariff. This revenue is used to pay back any initial loans and provide for all maintenance of the system. On top of this, money is set aside for a School Improvements Fund for the school to spend on new library books or computers (for example). Finally, funds are also set aside for the Pay-It-Forward Fund which ensures that after a few years, there is enough capital in place to install solar on another school.
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