Sun means Energy – Energy means Education: Gehrlicher installs Off-Grid System (7.5 kWp) in the Congo

This grid-independent roof-mounted system provides light to a school as well as enough electricity to operate a refrigerator and a computer lab.

Dornach near Munich, November 3, 2010. Gehrlicher Solar AG realized a further pv installation in Africa during the two last weeks of October. The company installed a grid-independent pv system with a performance of approximately 7.5 kWp on the roof of a school in the Congo. The school is part of the UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network and Peace Education.

The system, donated as a social project by Gehrlicher, is to provide light to the school as well as electricity to operate a refrigerator and five to ten computer workstations. Batteries with a storage capacity of almost 30 kilowatt hours ensure electricity is available even after the sun has gone down.

Reliable power supply is not self-evident in Africa; power failures, however, are. These are compensated by private diesel generators which not only result in high operation costs but also in a very great deal of environmental pollution. However, access to energy is the key to education, medical care, clean water and economic development. For this reason, affordable, grid-independent energy supply has great potential in Africa.

This school project in the Congo is a further isolated system Gehrlicher Solar AG has installed in Africa. The first project involved the realization of a 1.6 kWp isolated system on Chicken Island in Guinea Bissau (West Africa). With the acquisition of Solarland, a pv company from the Canary Islands, Gehrlicher has just strengthened its capacities in the off-grid segment. Gehrlicher will also be expanding its business activities to the African continent in the next few months as part of its sustainable internationalization strategy.

Printable images are available upon request.

Gehrlicher Solar AG is a photovoltaic corporation which was founded in 1994 by its chairman, Klaus Gehrlicher. Gehrlicher Solar AG acts as a system integrator, planning, building, financing, maintaining and operating photovoltaic systems. In addition, Gehrlicher Solar AG acts as a wholesaler for solar modules from other manufacturers, as well as offering its own developed components, from cables to support structures. The company plans, constructs and manages photovoltaic funds or private placement facilities for investors. Gehrlicher Solar AG is active globally, with 350 employees at two sites in Germany – Neustadt near Coburg and Dornach near Munich. The company operates subsidiaries in Italy, Spain, Greece, France, New Jersey/USA and India.

Gehrlicher Solar AG
Sarah Wulle • Press Relations Officer
Munich Office
Max-Planck-Str. 3 • 85609 Dornach near Munich (Germany)
Phone: +49 89 420792-178 • Fax: +49 89 420792-8170
E-Mail: sarah.wulle@gehrlicher.com • Internet: www.gehrlicher.com

This release was published on openPR.