Winfried Brunner
(Project Designer)
In 2008, under the supervision of our board member Mr. Brunner, St. Antonius Foundation designed and implemented a modern solar system at the oldest Christian Monastery in the world, St. Anthony Monastery on the Red Sea, Egypt.
According to our knowledge, in 2012 "SAGEP" was the largest "off-grid" solar project in Egypt with the world's most modern technology: the solar off-grid hybrid technology.
St. Anthony Monastery is located 334 km southeast of Cairo (see here)
The project was implemented in two phases as follows.
Phase 1: 10 kWpeak
This phase was funded by Misereor, SOVELLOW and St. Antonius Foundation. This phase was installed by the German company SOVELLOW GmbH.
As a starting point, a small off-grid system with 10 kWp was picked to convince all sides of the benefits of solar energy as a sustainable contribution to the preservation of "creation" and further establish confidence. In order to make solar energy's benefits “visible” for the monastery and the visitors, usually arriving between 4:00 and 5:00, this system should also have a battery storage for the lights of the monastery paths from 3:30 to 8:00 a.m.
Technical data:
Total output: 10.04 kWp
Module type: Sovello polycrystalline, 51 pieces with 200 Wp each
Support structure: self-made, steel pipes with height adjustability after setting in concrete and aluminum profiles from Altec Solartechnik AG on top
Inverter: 2 SMA Sunny Boy 5000TL
Battery inverter: SMA Sunny Island 5048
Batteries: BAE 8 PVV 1200, 24 pieces
Monitoring system: SMA Sunny Web-Box
Phase 2: 200 kWp Solar Hybrid System
In July 2011, the BMZ (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) essentially accepted to finance the development and construction of a 300 kWp hybrid solar system, with financial processing to be carried out by BEGECA (procurement company for charitable tasks).
Hybrid technology means the use of off-grid solar technology (= solar power generation without the possibility of feeding into the public grid) and without a battery storage system.
The electricity generated by diesel generators and solar is continuously adapted every second to energy demand. The heart of such a system is a control system that is "fed" by signals from the synchronization of the generators and the solar inverters.
As long as the generator power does not fall below the minimum permissible value, the solar energy takes the lead. With the old design, the feed-in limit was 50%. But then the aim was to achieve the ratio of 25% generator and 75% solar power.
Successful Project
After several months of test operation and improvements of both "energy suppliers", solar and generators, the system was inaugurated on January 30, 2014. The first experiment with a hybrid system is considered a success.
Inauguration of the facility was done on January 30, 2014 by the Coptic Pope Tawadros II.
If the mean value of the daily yield achieved so far in 2014 is set at 965 kWh, a specific annual yield of 1665 kWh / kWp installed power is achieved (in Germany, this value is around 1050 kWh / kWp per year). That means 350 MWh of electricity that is fed into the Monastery network per year and this corresponds to oil savings of 125,000 l / a, which in turn means CO2 savings of 340 t/a and cost savings of~ 1 million EGP/a.
In the end, the results of the solar system in the desert is reason for solar system owners in Germany to be a little bit jealous.