Aptech Africa is happy to announce that it has recently commissioned nine stand-alone roof-mounted PV systems for schools in the remote regions of Uganda in a project funded by PEAS.
The sizing of the systems was 11.685Kw in total, with 1.425kW for 5 systems and 1.140kW for 4 systems respectively. The energy storage for the systems included 36 batteries of 200Ah each, using 4 batteries for each system, making a total of 4.8 Kwh battery bank. The system was installed with Victron smart/blue solar mppt charge controllers of 50A each. The system also included Innovex system monitoring units to give real time system status updates on battery SOC and PV charging status with total energy generated by the solar panels as well as the status of the load. The Innovex system can also communicate in case of system has a fault so necessary corrective procedures can be taken in time.
The school communities where the systems were installed were are located in the Western (Fort portal, Kabarole, Ibanda, Mitooma), Eastern (Mayuge, Kumi, Katakwi) and Northern regions (Lamwo) of Uganda. These sites were selected to ensure continuous learning in the schools, to provide lighting and power in the student dormitories, and to improve security at night. Computer lessons can now be added as there will be reliable power, ensuring that students will not be left out in this technology driven era. Previously, students were unable to have night classes due to power outages. In addition, morning preps were not viable until late morning when the lighting was adequate. The school security was lacking and movement within the compound at night was not safe due to lack of lighting.
Aptech deployed teams of technicians to install in different schools at the same time. This allowed the systems to be over the school holiday. Over 800 people including students, teachers and school caretakers in the different schools will benefit from these systems. Thanks to this project, the student community will be able to improve their academic performance due to consistent night classes and prep time. Teachers will be able to complete syllabuses in time and hence have time to review with students. The community hopes to produce quality candidates for both academics and professional development. In addition, the school administration will be able to save greatly on the power bills since solar is the priority/main power supply and will only use the main grid as backup.
