At a recent media weekend at Sun City, Sustainability Manager, Lwazi Mswelanto, showcased the most recent solar installation at the resort, which is located on the roof of The Palace of the Lost City.
Once finished, the solar panels will cover the entire roof of The Palace and should be in operation by the end of July.
The installation on The Palace roof is part of a larger, phased environmental strategy to reduce the resort's reliance on the national grid. Once this phase is completed, the resort's demand on the national grid is expected to decrease by a total of 2.25MW.
“This phase will add an additional 0.7MW of solar energy, increasing our total solar capacity to just over 20 per cent of the resort's current energy consumption,” said Mswelanto.
Sun City has multiple substations connected to a single grid. This set-up allows for flexible distribution of solar power across the property.
“If The Palace doesn't require the solar energy generated at any given time, it can be fed to other areas as needed, such as the Valley of Waves. Most of this energy will be directed to the Valley of Waves and the Convention Centre, where most conferences occur during the day,” Mswelanto said.
“Our sustainability agenda is focused on not only shrinking our environmental footprint but also on uplifting our surrounding communities. We work closely with all partners to ensure that members of our doorstep communities are employed, trained and upskilled to service the technology during the building, and after completion of the project,” added Mswelanto.
