Victron Installer Tino Solutions based in Ghana is delighted to be rolling out green energy for the International Petrochemical giant Puma Energy.
The first phase of installations across 5 regions in Ghana has seen 11 solar power supplies totalling 400kW installed in Fuel Stations and Bulk Distribution depots, and was completed in little over a month.
On the forecourt solar energy is used to pump and meter fuel delivery, outside lighting, powering air compressors for tyre inflation – indoors the energy is used to power the convenience store machinery and refrigeration.
For Postino Dugle – CEO of Tino Solutions – the most satisfying part of the job is that he is able to demonstrated the success of the project in real time to Puma investors based in Singapore. As with all new projects there were some doubts about how effective the installations would be – both by the facility managers, and the project investors. To be able to demonstrate such a resounding success is really exciting.
Apart from demonstrating Puma Energy’s commitment to green energy, until now there has been a legacy of problems with forecourt business transactions. Grid electricity in Ghana is vulnerable to voltage drops and blackouts. If a power outage occurs when a customer is pumping fuel they will be forced to wait whilst the service station switches over to back up generator. The problem is so common that all service stations have this facility. Furthermore, when the meters are shut-down due to unexpected power loss the meter reading is also lost – this often leads to angry disagreement between the customer and the supplier about how much fuel has been taken.
The fast switching times of Victron Inverters provide an uninterruptible power supply – so that station managers are absolutely delighted that this problem is now behind them.
The systems typically comprise:
- 40 JKM solar panels at 390Wp each
- 3 x MultiPlus II 48/5000 Inverter/Charger; or the Quattro units which have 2 AC inputs
- 3 x SmartSolar MPPT 250/100 charge controllers
- 24kWh BYD LVS Premium Lithium battery storage
- Cerbo GX for system control and communication
- BMV 702 battery monitor
- Lynx distributor bus bar
GX communication device harmonises the system’s power harvest, storage and supply as well as making system data available to administrators and managers worldwide via the free to use Victron Remote Management VRM platform
Grid fuel prices are comparatively expensive in Ghana – costing 0.23 US Dollars per kWh for non-residential consumers. This investment provides security in the long term both in terms of reliability, and in cost management.
Postino Dugle started his company in 2005 – building it up from what he describes as ‘humble beginnings’ the secret of his success has been his determination to install top quality products to a high standard now matter how small the job. It took some courage to stick with that ethos – because competitive business, installing cheaper products were able to offer customers a lower price – but he notices that over the years those competitors have fallen away.
