maxx-solar academy at Intersolar Europe 2012, Munich, Germany,Booth B3.125

                                                                              

                                                                                             /---/ June 13-15, 2012, Munich, Germany

To our valued clients and visitors, maxx-solar academy proudly announces its participation at this year’s edition of Intersolar Europe in Munich, Germany from June 13-15. Visit us at the DGS Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sonnenenergie e.V.  stand in Hall 3 Booth B3.125. The maxx-solar academy team will be happy to arrange a meeting with you and discuss what we are doing in terms of developing local skilled solar power experts in one of the emmerging solar market, South Africa. To book an appointment kindly email us at info@maxx-energy.co.za

07.06.2012 | Schlagwörter: , , ,

Chairwoman of Thuringian Regional Association of the German Solar Energy Society DGS e.V launches the maxx-solar academy

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                     

/---/South Africa´s Premier Solar Academy was launched on the 16th and 19th of April in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively by none other than the Chairwoman of the Thuringian Regional Association of the German Solar Energy Society DGS e.V, Ing Antje Klauss-Vorreiter among other distinguished guests from South Africa and Germany. The response from the Industry was overwhelming and indeed the team and the delegates had an incredible time to share information, interact and network.

 

Due to the developments that have been taking place which include Solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies emmerging as the “big winner” in South Africa’s 20-year integrated resource plan (IRP) for electricity, there is no doubt that this will potentially transform the country into a “solar gold mine”. Just like any ordinary mine, there is need for skilled manpower. As such the launch of maxx-solar academy at the right time will go a long way in ensuring that the locals are skilled and thereby subsequently contributing to President Jacob Zuma´s vision of job creation.

 

The Managing Director of maxx-solar academy Manja Schubert then gave an overview of the courses that will be offered and the training concept behind it that really makes it ideal. Apart from the Trainers that are practitioners in the Solar Industry in Germany and South Africa, the courses are quite interactive and also practically based.

 

 Participants will get the opportunity to do some roof modelling, PV module Installation and conduct Solar experiments. A representative from the main sponsor, maxx- solar & energie, a leading Photovoltaic Company in Thüringia, Michael Rudolph introduced the company to the delegates in terms of who they are and what services they offer and their ``Quality culture``.

 

The highlight from the launch was that the team got the first registration for the courses from Martin Pollack, Tri Systems Company. This indeed is a testimony for the relevancy of maxx- solar academy within the Industry. The maxx-solar academy team remains upbeat about the future of the South African Solar Industry.

28.05.2012 | Schlagwörter: , , , , ,

Launch of the maxx|solar academy

Renewable Energy is our Future!

 maxx|solar acamdy - the professional training insitute on solar power will be launched in April 2012.

Supported by the German Chamber of Commerce and GreenCape , financed by the DEG and maxx| solar & energie GmbH, will the academy be introdcuded to specialists and interested people.

If you have been invited to our launch in:

  • Johannesburg on the 16th April or
  • Cape Town on the 19th April

then we are looking forward to meet you there.

If you would like to learn more about the maxx| solar academy and you are intested to join us for the launch, please contact us.

With a bit of luck we still have space available and can welcome you in Cape Town or Johannesburg.

 schubert@maxx-energy.co.za or phone +27 (76) 765 4416

 

05.04.2012 |

first maxx-solar academy energy day in iThemba Labantu

It’s Tuesday January 21st and in the township of Phillipi the nursery kids of the community centre iThemba Labantu are coming back from school. Their after-school teacher promised a surprise for this afternoon. Antje Klauß-Vorreiter and Manja Schubert of the ‘maxx-solar academy show them with solar power experiment tool kids how the sun produces electricity.  They are even given the opportunity to  conduct their own experiments,  powering a horn as well as a motor using small solar cells. What the kids liked best was to let various coloured disks rotate using the solar motor.

The maxx-academy team explained that those small cells power their motor in the same way as the large modules on the roof of the community hospital, converting the light of the sun into power. The 5,32kWp solar power plant of the community hall has been working since 30 March of 2011. Due to the initiative and the support of maxx-solar and energy and to the module donation of Bosch Solar Energy AG, about 6.575kWh have been produced in the last ten months. In order not to let this be a unique example maxx-solar & energy supports the DGS Solarschool Thuringia by the foundation of the ‘maxx-solar-academy’ in South Africa.

Already in April 2012 the ‘maxx-solar academy’ will offer information events in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The academy  plans to start regular events in August 2012. There are going to be courses on:

  • Solar power consultancy
  • Solar power planning
  • Solar power installation

Additionally adapted trainings will be offered to pupils and teachers in the community centre of iThemba Labantu and for students of the college in Cape Town.

For more information please contact info@maxx-energy.co.za.

The ‘maxx-solar academy’ receives funding from BMZ’s developPPP.de. programme.

26.03.2012 |

Maxx Solar fullfills strict criteria of TUV

The company maxx solar & energie GmbH & Co. KG from Waltershausen underwent the strict criteria of safety standards authority TUV Thuringia and now was certificated as the first professional company in the photovoltaic business. On the 13th of May, 2011, Olaf Kraft, head of distribution and safety standards authority TUV Thuringia, handed over the blueTÜV certificate „professional company PV arrangements“ to maxx solar & energie managing director and owner Dieter Ortmann .
The ecologically friendly use of the solar energy lies in the trend. A feed in tariff and aid programmes move many homeowners in Germany, however, also local authority districts or house building societies are on the ecological solar stream. However, a photovoltaic system calculates itself only if it was installed correctly and competently.
The fact that this not always is the case, finds out the safety standards authority TUV Thuringia with his inspections in solar arrangements recently more often. Hence, the photovoltaic experts of safety standards authority TUV Thuringia have developed a test procedure and certification procedure which examines the high-class graduations of PV-companies. It intends to have a closer look at the concept phase about the planning and project engineering up to the assembly, installation, introduction and decrease of the PV arrangement.
An enterprise which special value lays on the quality of his work maxx solar & energie from Waltershausen. For many years Dieter Ortmann and his 16-headed team deal with the technical realisation of solar power production and are valid in Central Germany as pioneers while establishing of solar arrangements. Since 2007 solar systems are installed by the photovoltaic specialists and are expelled. „I am especially proud that our company
could fulfil the strict criteria of safety standards authority Thuringia. This is for our customers and ourselves a proof of our high-class claim and stimulus for good work at the same time“, according to Ortmann at the certificate handing over. However, the certificate is no free ride light. Certificated professional companies are checked by auditors of safety standards authority Thuringia regularly all two years on observance of the criteria.

28.05.2011 |

First Refit capacity by year-end ?

Despite the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) announcement this week that the outcome of its renewable energy feed-in tariff (Refit) review would be delayed until mid-June, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters told lawmakers on Thursday that the procurement programme should begin before the end of June and that transactions for the first 1 000 MW of Refit capacity should be concluded by year-end.
“We hope to conclude at least 1 000 MW of renewable energy transactions by December this year, in time for showcasing as we host COP 17 in Durban,” she said in her Budget vote speech to Parliament. South Africa will host the 17th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP17, in Durban from November 28 to December 9.
“Apart from the showcasing, this programme is aligned to the New Growth Path and will substantially contribute to President [Jacob] Zuma’s vision on job creation.”
However, Nersa’s proposed reduction of the Refit rates had caused some concern among potential renewables project developers, with some warning that projects could be made marginal by the cuts.
But during the media briefing ahead of Peters’ speech, Department of Energy officials argued that Nersa’s review was in line with its policy for yearly reassessments of the rates, while the proposed cuts were reflective of changes that had taken place globally with regard to the capital on operating costs for wind and solar projects.

Officials also indicated that the appetite for the first 1 000 MW under Refit had been extremely strong and that there should still be sufficient uptake under a revised regime.
When asked to clarify the future procurement process, the department said that Eskom would be the ultimate buyer, while Nersa would govern the process and its timing.
After the next Nersa board meeting at the end of May, a final decision would be made on how the Refit procurement process would proceed. The department said it was hopeful that the programme would be in a position to be launched by June.
What was somewhat unclear was whether government might favour a competitive bidding process for the first round. Developers have warned that such an approach, which was likely to find support in the early stages, might lower the overall appetite for the South African renewables market in the longer term.

28.05.2011 |

Solar PV has emerged as big IRP ‘winner’, report asserts

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies have emerged as the “big winner” in South Africa’s 20-year integrated resource plan (IRP) for electricity, which indicates that the PV solutions could deliver 8 400 MW of new capacity by 2030, a new report by Frost & Sullivan argues.
The target could translate into the deployment of a “staggering” 300-MW-a-year of large-scale solar PV from 2012 onwards, potentially transforming the country into a “solar gold mine”.

The report has been published as the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) reviews the country’s renewable energy feed-in tariff (Refit) rates across all technologies, including solar PV. Under the proposed adjustments, the solar PV Refit rate could be cut by 41,3%, from the R3,94/kWh level promulgated in 2009, to R2,31/kWh in 2011.

However, some developers believe the revised Refit will still be sufficient to attract investors, particularly given that installation and operational costs have been declining in recent years. There is also an international drive to lower the installed cost of PV solutions to $1/W, from current levels of around $3,80/W.

The report notes that PV in South Africa is currently limited to offgrid uses, despite that fact that most of the 21 GW of global capacity has been integrated with the grid, the largest example being the 97-MW Sarnia PV facility, in Canada.

It also argues that South Africa has sufficient land resources to meet the target – Frost & Sullivan calculates that the 8 400-MW plan would require 92 400 acres of land, making the sparsely populated Northern Cape, which also enjoys world-class solar radiation, a likely location.

“The plan to create an area large enough for 46 300 soccer fields will be the largest cluster of solar farms in the world to date, and will be visible from space. The construction of these projects over the next 20 years will no doubt create a significant number of jobs,” the consultancy adds.

Extrapolating figures from the Spanish PV market, which created 28 000 PV-related jobs between 2001 and 2010 while developing 3 000 MW of capacity, Frost & Sullivan estimates that the solution, together with 1 000 MW of concentrated solar power, could yield 60 000 jobs over the next two decades.

As with Spain, whose market is currently facing difficulties, it is anticipated that the bulk of these jobs will be created in the manufacture of components. “Global and local PV manufacturers alike are exploring component manufacturing possibilities in the South African market,” the report states.

It also concludes that South Africa is in a “prime position” to become a key global solar PV market participant, despite the current frustrations associated with recent delays to the procurement process for the first round of renewable energy projects.

“Once the first power purchase agreements (PPAs) are signed, however, the market will flood with activity,” the reports argues, adding that the first PPAs are likely by the end of 2011.

In response to whether the South African consumer can afford the investment, Frost & Sullivan acknowledges that trade-offs will have to be made between economic and environmental imperatives. But it also notes that, while PV has cost disadvantages relative to wind, it had the advantage of being modular and relatively quick to install.

“While the economic well-being of the country should be monitored to avoid generous over-incubatory measures, the benefits of PV are set to provide the nation with clean electricity, and the creation of direct and indirect jobs,” the report concludes

16.05.2011 |

Community Project Ithemba Labantu

The 5Kwp photovoltaic system

The 5Kwp photovoltaic system installed

Maxx Energy is pround to be part of a project that helps the community centre Ihemba Labantu in Phillipi/Cape Town to save energy costs of up to 8.000 Rand per year. Initiator of the project was the german marketing agency KN-Marketing in Worms, which approached various companies in the solar industry and asked on behalf on community referent Otto Kohlstock for help. "The price for electricity was rising by more then 20% over the past two years and will continue to do so", told Otto Kohlstock the managing director of KN-Marketing, Klaus Neugebauer who approached maxx solar&energy in Germany and Bosch Solar in Germany. Both companies were immideately caught by the idea to sponsor a KWp system for the center, whereas KN-Marketing would provide the transport from Germany.

Dieter Ortman from Maxx Energy (Pty) Ltd, the subsidery of maxx solar&energy in Germany was very pleased that his company could contribute to this project."It is great to see that a proven technology like photovoltaic can help the people here in their daily work to help other people."   

The system - consisting of 20 Bosch Solar panels and two SMA inverters and installed by partner company Solarzone from Summerset West - will provide electricity for the small hospital, the soup kitchen that provides up to 200 people with a free meal per day and a workshop.

On April 15th 2011, Otto Kohlstock invited more than 150 people for the official launch of the system. It was a very nice celebration with performances of  a children choir and the Ithema Labantu choir. After the speeches all participants enjoyed some nice food and non-alcoholic drinks outside the church.

Over the next 25 years the solarpanels will produce about 200.000 Kwh of energy and save more than 180 tons of carbon emissions and makes the center partly independent from any energy price hiks that may come in the future.

07.04.2011 | Schlagwörter: