This week, SOLA was pleased to assist the Century City Conference Centre in its journey toward sustainability by completing a solar energy system on the centre’s roof. The complete system consists of over 800 photovoltaic panels that will generate electricity directly from the sun for the conference centre.  The newly-built facility, owned by Rabie Property Group, currently uses over 2M kWh electricity annually.

SOLA installed the 260 kW system over 6 weeks. Split over two roofs, the combined system will produce around 400 000 kWh of electricity annually, which is expected to cut the centre’s carbon emissions by 17% per annum.

Gary Koetser, joint CEO of CCCC, comments, “Sustainability is fast becoming a non-negotiable in the private sector, with corporates across the board making a concerted effort to reduce negative effects on the environment. From the outset, we have strived to minimalize the impact of our operations on the environment and have implemented a number of policies and procedures to this end. This includes water management, waste management & recycling, sustainable food and energy saving.

“Examples like CCCC show that small-scale, decentralised energy usage is an important, simple step that companies can take toward securing their own affordable energy supply in the future,” said Dom Wills, CEO of SOLA. Will’s voice joined others in a session discussing the cost-effectiveness of renewable technologies at African Utility Week.

Glyn Taylor, joint CEO of CCCC reiterates the centre’s position on sustainable practices, “We are really proud that our system not only makes financial sense, but further exemplifies our commitment to providing a sustainable conference venue by actively cutting down on our own carbon emissions.”

Projects such as this demonstrate a simple step that large buildings can take toward securing their own energy supply in the future whilst cutting their own carbon emissions.