Kenyans can look forward with hope of reduced power bills after a local company invented a solar grid-tied electrical system using power harnessed from the sun.
“The system utilises the sun to store up energy to be used in place of the billed electricity to run machines or light up houses and other equipment which requires use of electricity and the money which would have rather been used to settle the electricity bills channeled elsewhere,” Davis & Shirtliff chief executive David Gatende said in a statement.
Those interested in having the system installed in their premises need solar panels, a grid inverter and the appropriate power management and control equipment.
“The system is linked to the mains to feed into the loads required and it generates power only when the utility grid is powered and the sun is shining and when insufficient electricity is available electricity drawn from the mains grid is used,” Gatende said.
The inverter ramps up voltage of the power it supplies to the mains grid, allowing power to flow easily from this source than from the mains grid.
For industries, institutions and offices that normally operate during the day, the system gives such facilities more control of the energy ration they are generating and consuming. The more the energy rationing they own, the less affected they are by the price changes in electricity.
The system is designed in such a way that the user can expand the voltage if they wish to have a bigger capacity and the inverter capacity ranges from 2.5 kilowatt to 50kW in both single and three phase designs.
Online monitoring from computer or a smartphone with an internet connection will enable users to monitor the system.