The Regional Maritime University (RMU), in collaboration with REDAVIA Rental Solar Power, has commissioned three-container loads of solar farm panels.
They are to generate 0.5 megawatts of power to reduce electricity tariffs at the University.
With the collaboration, REDAVIA will also build a world-class solar laboratory on RMU Campus at no cost to the University to support the University’s Master of Science in Renewable Engineering programme, which commences in September, this year.
Speaking at the commissioning, Professor Elvis Nyarko, Vice Chancellor of RMU, said the solar farm would make the University the first to have such facility in the sub-region, to train students in solar and other renewable energy technologies to the highest level.
He said the three out of the five containers installed would supply 266-kilowatts of solar power to the University in daylight and even on cloudy days.
“RMU is currently experiencing a significant reduction in energy cost, which will become even more important after the installation of all the five containers,” he added.
The Vice-Chancellor said REDAVIA solar power were transparent and affordable, as they were mainly charged as monthly rental fees, based on consumption and the farm also leads to a notable reduction in carbon emissions as a result of lower consumption of grid power and on-site diesel power.
Prof Nyarko said RMU was planning to expand the solar farm and add on-site energy storage to eliminate power grid outages that were currently impacting the University’s operations on a regular basis, especially at night.
He expressed the hope that the University would eventually own its solar farm and train more renewable energy engineers of Ghana and the sub-region as a whole.
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Source: GNA