Cape Town’s 15 on Orange Hotel, part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection, has newly installed the fully operational Solarus Solar system on the building’s roof.
The largest hybrid Photovoltaic and Thermal project installed in Cape Town presently, the system provides the luxury hotel and residences with both heat and electricity.
Francois Steyn, Hotel Portfolio Manger of the Spear Property Group, the owners of the hotel comments:
“Sustainability is embedded into Marriott International’s business strategy, from design to guest experience“.
“Having sustainable management of our energy and water as one of our development pillars, the Solarus system is a perfect solution for us to obtain maximum impact from our rooftop. It is a great location to harvest this free energy instead of using fossil fuel-based sources. The Solarus system with 124 PowerCollectors produces an average of 3.000 kWh of energy per week and creates a viable and stable energy supply for our 129 hotel rooms, the large restaurant, spa and laundry.”
Managing Director for Solarus in South Africa, Rene Laks says that Solarus embraces Marriott International’s strategy to minimize their footprint and to integrate sustainable business practices:
“It is a fact that hotels need a great deal of hot water, thus the choice for a Solarus system, which produces both heat and electricity, is very beneficial. Both in terms of a reduction in fossil fuels and a reduction in the hotels’ operating costs … The Solarus PowerCollector combines thermal (T) energy with photovoltaic (PV). Due to its unique technology and design it produces one of the highest energy yields ever measured. This superior performance gives the ability to accelerate the transition towards a clean energy future. The sun is abundant in South Africa, making for an attractive business case“.
“The energy produced in conjunction with the reduced demand from the grid will provide electricity and heat throughout the hotel. Over a 20-year period, this installation will save the hotel approximately ZAR 24.5 million.”
Solarus’ partner in solar and the EPC company for the installation, New Southern Energy, is a leading South African-based, full-service renewable energy provider for distributed energy projects throughout Africa. With extensive experience in the renewable energy sector, New Southern Energy was chosen as the projects EPC as they held the technical and professional skills required to implement the project.
New Southern Energy CEO David Masureik says of the 15 on Orange Installation, “solar thermal solutions are ideally suited for clients that require thermal energy, such as companies in hospitality. Through our exclusive partnership with unique premium technologies such as the Solarus PowerCollectors, we are able to provide our clients with a solution to all their water heating requirements. We appreciate that surface area to install our solution in these sectors is limited; we therefore selected to work exclusively with Solarus as their PowerCollectors produce three times more power per installed surface area then traditional PV panels.”
