NEWS I REVIEW
Trina ranks first environmentally
TRINA SOLAR has been ranked No. 1 globally for environmental and social performance in the 2012 Solar Scorecard, an award system established by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (“SVTC”).
SVTC’s Solar Scorecard, now in its third year, aims to improve PV manufacturers’ environmental practices and responsibility for the environmental impacts of its manufacturing processes so that the solar industry can be considered a truly clean and green industry.
Donauer Solartechnik completes PV plants in South Africa
DONAUER SOLARTECHNIK is commissioning a photovoltaic plant on the roof of the University of the Witwatersrand in the South African city of Johannesburg. The plant will deliver an annual yield of around 2,800 kilowatt hours and is a part of a project to provide environmentally friendly electricity for two educational institutions on location.
In cooperation with a German project developer and a South African installation company, Donauer was able to provide both educational facilities with reliable and sustainable electricity. A first solar plant was furnished by Donauer for the Mafa Max Motloung Secondary School in Delmas, located 70 kilometres away. It was connected to the grid on the 28th December 2011.
The Scorecard is a resource for consumers, institutional purchasers, investors, and other decision makers who purchase PV modules from responsible product stewards. The Scorecard reveals how companies perform on SVTC’s sustainability and social justice benchmarks to ensure that the PV manufacturers protect workers, communities, and the environment. Survey specifics covered areas such as extended producer responsibility and takeback, supply chain monitoring and green jobs and chemical-use and life cycle analysis and disclosure.
“We are very proud of our top ranking in this leading environmental survey, which reflects sustainability improvement efforts from all our operating areas,” said Mr. Jifan Gao, Chairman and CEO of Trina Solar. “As PV Solar adoption expands into new markets and regions, we are committed to adding innovation and value both inside and outside the module, which includes our EHS and Corporate Social Responsibility practices.”
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www.solar-international.net I Issue V 2012
Its expected annual yield is approximately 3,000 kilowatt hours, which are used for a combination of feed in and own consumption. Since its commissioning a few months ago, the plant has already generated so much energy that the electricity costs of the school could be reduced by 40 per cent. The photovoltaic plants should help the pupils and students sharpen their awareness of renewable energies by learning interactively. With the help of data loggers, PCs and laptops, the students will be able to take over monitoring the plant and evaluating the data.
The pupils in Delmas can also access their plant monitoring system and learn,
hands-on, how to deal with the new technologies. Thanks to this practical and understandable example, they find out how solar energy can significantly contribute to providing their country with energy.
To date, coal-fired power plants have generated around 90 per cent of the energy South Africa consumes.
Nonetheless, the present energy supply cannot serve the rapidly increasing demand due to the economic boom and progressing electrification. Again and again, electricity outages occur.
“Sustainable showcase projects in the solar sector are needed to demonstrate the enormous potential of solar energy in South Africa”, says Benedikt Böhm, regional sales manager at Donauer. He summarises, “Important for the coal- mining region in Delmas is, moreover, that the young generation, above all, can see in photovoltaics an alternative to conventional sources of energy. For this, Donauer places great emphasis upon integrating local project partners, who are an important key to successfully implementing projects.”
With a solar irradiation value of up to 2,500 kilowatt hours per square meter, the region on the Horn of Africa belongs to the sunniest areas on the earth. Currently, the South African government is primarily supporting large-scale solar power plants.
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