German company juwi continues its focus on bringing renewable energy applications to rural areas within Africa, and its latest venture landed in Kenya’s Mfangano Island. The company teamed with local partners, Dreampower Ltd. and KPLC Ltd., to outfit the solar park with juwi’s off-grid technology.
The Solar Fuel Saver, a system for integrating solar systems into existing or even new diesel generator grids, is the first hybrid scheme that doesn’t require batteries. juwi’s off-grid division deployed the technology on the eastern part of Lake Victoria. The solar plant on Mfangano Island is coupled with the existing diesel generator and is directly injecting its power into the mini-grid. It can take up to 25% of the average load during midday which is currently 40 kW. In case the load is decreasing, the solar plant’s power output will be adjusted automatically in order to avoid the diesel generator operating under minimal part load conditions.
Off-grid division head Fabian Jochem said: “The idea behind our concept is to reduce the generators’ fuel consumption during daytime hours by injecting as much electricity as possible from the solar plant into the grid without harming the diesel generator. The power output of the PV plant is therefore controlled by an intelligent controller, the Solar Fuel Saver.”
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