Augustineum secondary school reaps the benefits of solar hot water through SOLTRAIN

Namibia

Submitted by Helvi Ileka
Published 1 year, 3 months ago

The Augustineum Secondary School, established in 1866, is among the oldest schools in Namibia. Originally situated in Otjimbingwe, it was relocated to Okahandja in 1890, and finally to Windhoek in 1968. It is a public school located in Khomasdal, a suburb of Windhoek. Recently, the school has undergone refurbishment, which included the replacement of old electric boilers with solar water heaters.

As part of implementing the 2007 cabinet directive on solar water heating for public institutions, as well as lessening the school´s carbon footprint and saving costs, 28 thermosiphon systems were installed to supply hot water to the school facilities.

Eight solar water heaters are providing hot water for 22 showers at the girl’s hostel.  Sixteen solar water heaters for 52 showers at the boys hostel and the remaining 3 solar water heaters supply hot water to the matrons’ flats. One more geyser is installed above the dining hall and is providing hot water to the kitchen.

Each solar water heater has a collector area of 3.7 m² and a hot water storage capacity of 300 litres, resulting in a total collector area of 103.6 m² and a total hot water storage capacity of is 8 400 litres. The solar systems are the first installation by the young entrepreneurs of ARTIFLEX ENGINEERING CC, who attended SOLTRAIN training and are exploring opportunities in the renewable energy market in the country.

The SOLTRAIN quality check of the installed installed was completed on the 2nd of October 2021.