Case Study

Bushwakka

Overview

Bushwakka Afrika is known for building high quality-light and durable off-road camping trailers. Engineered not to let you down when the going gets tough, they also offer a unique range of quality 4 x 4 vehicle camping accessories.
Given that some of their products include solar components, it was no surprise that the company saw the value in considering this form of energy for their head office and manufacturing centre in Worcester in the Western Cape.

Objective

Bushwakka Afrika approached New Southern Energy looking for a solution to fulfill their energy needs. Their objectives included reducing their municipal electricity bill by using solar energy, as well as operating in a more sustainable way.
The property fortunately had sufficient roof space available to host a solar plant that could meet these requirements. This system would supplement the facility’s energy needs with solar power and help reduce their dependence on electricity.
The long-term objective is to feed excess energy back into the grid. However, the local municipality do not have a feed-in structure yet. Once this is in place, this objective can be fulfilled.

Solar Solution

New Southern Energy designed and installed a premium grid-tied solar system for Bushwakka. Grid tied systems are connected to the electrical power grid, providing a win-win solution whereby the facility can generate solar power to supplement its energy needs, and still draw from the national grid.
The 70 kWp PV system consists of 360 Wp Canadian Solar panels which convert sun radiation into electrical energy. Solar Edge inverters are included in the system, with an optimizer for every two modules reducing shading losses. The panels were placed flush with the site’s roof, facing 74 degrees East of North using mounting frames.
The system’s performance is monitored and controlled through a master controller, which can also communicate with the inverters.  Additionally, the monitoring and control system includes a weather station to measure solar radiation and module temperature. All of the data is logged and saved in cloud-based storage. Furthermore, the performance can be monitored in real time via a smart phone app.

Team

Business Development Manager: Mike Pritchard
Project Manager: Andrew Alexander
Asset Manager: Brian Ssebabi

Results

The site was completed late in 2019 and has been operating efficiently ever since.
The system currently generates 56% of the site’s energy supply.
In its first year, the client saved an estimated R199 600.