As part of its drive towards continuous sustainability, Tikketai invested in a solar energy system to support its cooling and production processes.
The solar photovoltaic system, excluding the batteries for storage of energy, enables Tikketai to operate off the grid on sunny days, but with the contingency of switching over to grid electricity on cloudy days.
The environmental benefit
Burger Gericke, Chief Executive Officer at Tikketai explains that the decision to convert to solar power was three folded. “We want to contribute to a healthy and sustainable environment, reduce our carbon footprint and act socially and environmentally responsible. Due to South Africa’s Equatorial position, the climate is ideal for solar with most areas in the country averaging more than 2500 hours of sunshine per year.
“One would waste with an opportunity that offers so many benefits if you do not pursue solar energy”, he adds.
Return on investment
Furthermore, there will be a long-term benefit as the capital investment will be written off against the cut in electricity usage from the grid. “We expect to break even within about four years and from hereon we will incur a saving and possibly additional income from the solar energy that we generate.”
Burger further explains that they use all available capacity on weekdays. He adds, “We use less electricity during weekends as only our cooling rooms are running without being opened and closed regularly. On sunny days, this often results in surplus generating capacity. This offers the opportunity for Tikketai, as an Independent Power Producer (IPP), to sell the surplus renewable generating capacity to the George Municipality. This is a win-win situation against the background of Western Cape legislation that allows municipalities in good financial standing to procure power from IPPs. It further forms part of the drive to strengthen the energy resilience of municipalities in the Western Cape, whilst the IPP gets an income from surplus energy that would otherwise have been lost and wasted.
Lockdown has delayed many municipal processes but Burger plans to pursue the chance to be registered as an IPP with the George Municipality.