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Lake Kariba shoreline, Zambia (stock image)
Stock image. Client site not shown for POPIA reasons.
Projects/Lakeshore lodge

Lake Kariba: Off-grid solar plant for a lodge on Lake Kariba, Zambia

300kW
off grid on the shore of Lake Kariba
Lakeshore lodgeLake Kariba, Zambia2023
Solar (PV)300kilowatts (kW)
SystemOff-gridno grid connection
Back-upDieselfor emergencies
MonitoringRemotearound the clock

What the site needed

A lodge on the Zambian shore of Lake Kariba, far from the national grid. Diesel generators ran everything: fuel trucked in at a cost, constant maintenance, and noise in a place guests come to for quiet.

What we built

  • A 300 kW array feeding a deep-cycle battery bank through a charge controller.
  • An inverter supplying every light and appliance in the lodge.
  • A diesel generator kept for emergencies and long overcast spells.
  • Remote monitoring to keep performance up and catch issues early.
  • Energy-efficient appliances and lighting, and lodge staff trained to run the system.

What changed

Solar now carries the lodge. The generator runs only when it has to, which cuts diesel use and generator maintenance, and the lodge is quiet again.

Some images on this page are illustrations. Photographs of completed sites are available on request.

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Imvelo Energy designs, finances, builds and maintains commercial and industrial solar and battery systems for businesses across southern Africa, from offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

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Glossary
Demand charge
The part of a business electricity bill based on the highest power the site draws in the month, separate from the energy it uses.
Notified maximum demand
The capacity a site has agreed with its supplier. Going over it adds a charge to the bill.
Peak and time-of-use
Electricity costs more per unit in the weekday morning and evening peaks. A battery charged off-peak covers those hours.
Embedded generation
Power produced on your own site, connected on your side of the meter.
Distribution board
The electrical board the solar plant connects into.
Section 12B
A tax allowance that lets a business deduct the cost of a solar plant it owns, up to 1 MW, in the first year.
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