The construction of the solar carport in Kenya at the newly opened Garden City mall will immensely benefit the mall on power cost as it will save approximately US$ 301, 888 from power bills every year due to the usage of solar hybrid systems.
1,256 MW of electricity is anticipated to be annually generated from the solar carport constructed by Solarcentury. 3,300 solar panels were mounted at the uppermost car park shade. The project is also set to cut carbon emissions by around 745 tonnes annually.
Guy Lawrence director of UK Company Solarcentury which installed the panels confirmed the reports and said that the system which is a US$1.9m investment will use the dual-mode technology to provide solar energy throughout the day and if no solar power is generated during the day maybe because of weather conditions, power from the national grid will be consumed.
“If Garden City was paying for it, they would reduce power bills by 40 per cent that is about US$300,000 annually without using the national grid power. Since there is no power bank, the mall consumes 100 per cent power from the grid during the night and during the day in the event of no solar power generated. This means that less is used from the grid,” said Mr. Lawrence.
The solar carport in Kenya will ensure consistent energy supply is produced while reducing diesel and grid consumption, he added.
Garden City Mall is Kenya’s first integrated residential, retail and office development which sits on a 32-acre piece of land, located between exit 7 and exit 8 on Nairobi’s Thika Road.
Solarcentury is one of the most respected solar companies in the world. Its business is global and growing, with offices in the UK, the Netherlands, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Chile, Panama and Mexico. The company works directly with companies to design and install commercial, industrial and utility scale solar.
