Africa’s largest solar carport lunched in Garden City mall in Nairobi
Garden City Mall, one of Kenya’s national capital shopping malls, now has a roof-top solar carport which is considered as Africa’s largest solar carport. It provides shade for cars, and solar energy in the daytime (lighting and powering escalators at the mall).
The roof-top has a total of 3,300 solar panels which could cut carbon emissions from power generation through non-renewable energy by approximately 720 tonnes annually (18,000 tonnes during the 25-year lifetime of the system). It has a capacity that can power 550 urban homes.
The solar carport system has been designed using solar hybrid technology. During daylight hours, the solar carport generates solar electricity, and should the grid go down, the hybrid technology enables the carport to run in tandem with the diesel generator. When darkness falls, the Mall can switch to either grid energy or a backup diesel generator if the grid is down.
Hopefully, this is one of the projects that will go a long way in encouraging innovation in the energy sector as well as reducing over reliance on the national grid and costly diesel powered energy.
