Sun City Resort is making significant strides towards achieving energy independence with its new solar panel installations at The Palace and Sun City Hotel.
The roll out of panels is part of a broader, phased environmental strategy to reduce the resort’s demand and consumption of energy, while also meeting Sun International’s broader environmental commitment, said Brett Hoppé, General Manager at Sun City.
“Our sustainability promise is based on people, planet and profits, in that order. Solar is beneficial to our broader community as the less power we draw from the grid the more is available to others, it works for our guests – especially those travelling from overseas – as they want to know that they are not increasing their own environmental footprint when they stay at Sun City, and it works for our own bottom line. Since June last year we have completed the first two phases of the project and have already realised a financial saving of approximately R3.1 million.”
With Sun Central's roof now fully equipped with solar panels, the latest installation at The Palace and Sun City Hotel is being executed in multiple phases. Once completed, this project is expected to reduce the resort's demand on the national grid by approximately 2.3 MW.
“We are now in Phase 3 of our solar plant installation. This phase will add an additional 690 kWp, increasing our total to nearly 4 000 solar panels installed across the resort," said TM Lesetla, senior operations engineer at Tsebo Energy Solutions.
As of the 10th of June 2024, Sun City has already saved and produced a total of 2 203 886.97 kWh, while avoiding 1976.5 tons CO2e.
“Conventional installation methods such as cranes would have inconvenienced our guests, so given the scale of the project, we decided that airlifting the equipment was the best and quickest solution. At its highest point The Palace is 70 metres high, so lifting 1 193 solar panels and the supporting steel structures onto the roof is no mean feat. The hefty panels were packed into crates, with each one weighing just under a ton,” said Hoppé.
He said the project not only preserves the resort’s architectural heritage but also demonstrates Sun City’s commitment to sustainable energy solutions, setting a new benchmark for integrating renewable energy in heritage-sensitive settings.
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