Lighting manufacturer BEKA Schréder has supplied its solar lighting highmast the SOLARFLOOD solution for the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, installing units along a stretch of Stanford road in Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape, in June.

This installation is the result of the municipality’s initiative to keep cables out of the reach of thieves through its highmast solar lighting pilot programme.

“Eleven BEKA Schréder SOLARFLOOD light-emitting diode (LED) flood lights were chosen for the pilot project,” says BEKA Schréder Africa marketing and segment development manager Grant Combrink.

The SOLARFLOOD is a 20-m-high solar highmast used to combat pervasive destruction of infrastructure in the area. It is manufactured at BEKA Schréder’s manufacturing facility in Olifantsfontein, Gauteng, and was transported by road to Gqeberha.

It can provide lighting for the community when there is loadshedding, thus increasing safety and wellbeing for the community.

This is the first solar highmast installation in the Eastern Cape, and a successful pilot project for the municipality, which has said that it will consider rolling out further sustainable solutions in the future.

Nelson Mandela Bay municipality Energy and Electricity MMC Councillor Zanele Sikawuti has called the pilot project a success.

“This has allowed the electricity and energy department to provide light for the community,” she enthused in a YouTube video on the project.

Solution of the Highest Standards

BEKA Schréder South Africa has designed and manufactured the SOLARFLOOD solution for open areas and rural applications to provide a high-performing, robust option for off-grid solar lighting requirements.

It is a surface mounted highmast, with foundations, and includes a warranty of up to five years.

Combrink says BEKA Schréder’s unique solution ensures that the corrosion-proof glass-reinforced polymer box, which houses the lithium energy source and other components, is permanently positioned and strategically shielded, owing to the solar panel array’s facing north.

“This ensures that high temperatures, which are the cause of premature battery ageing, can be limited,” he says.

The reliable lighting solution has an IP66 rating and can withstand high ambient temperatures. It is a sustainable off-grid performer, with a superior lumen to watt ratio, and high-performing optics that allow for mounting of up to 20 m.

The photovoltaic energy conversion is optimised by highly efficient monocrystalline solar module technology.

This, in conjunction with a Maximum Power Point Tracking charge controller and its lithium energy storage technology, provides a “quality system”, offering the required system autonomy and providing a long-lasting solution to operate in any of the “very challenging African environmental conditions”.

“We are very proud to be associated with Nelson Mandela Bay municipality in providing a successful LED solar lighting highmast solution for this project,” Combrink concludes.