THE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY LABORATORY AT THE DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING GOES SOLAR
The Sustainable Energy Laboratory (SEL) at the Department of Mechanical Engineering under the College of Engineering, KNUST, has successfully migrated all its lighting systems, ventilation fans, and sockets for computers & laptops from the national ECG grid to solar energy. The lab has capacity to host 20 postgraduate and undergraduate students at a time.
Dr. Richard Opoku, a Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who doubles as the University’s Energy Efficiency and Solar Consultant indicated that this migration has helped to eliminate the effect of grid power outages on research activities and laboratory experiments. He intimated that the migration of the SEL onto solar energy is in line with the University’s Energy Policy to attain 20% renewable energy integration by the year 2025.
He explained that other laboratories and offices can also migrate onto solar energy but the system cost will depend on the types of electrical appliances used. Commenting on the prospect of solar energy for the whole University, he emphasized that since the Faculties and Colleges of the University operate in the daytime, solar energy with minimum battery storage presents the most cost-effective energy supply.
