Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Borba installs third photovoltaic plant and expects to save 60% on energy bills
Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Borba, Portugal, is committed to reducing the cost of its electricity bill and follows the path of sustainability. In addition to the two power plants installed in 2018 and 2021, a third will be installed in 2022. Rui Bacalhau, the institution’s Ombudsman trusts that “from now on we will save 60% on the energy bill, I’m only sorry we didn’t start earlier“.
What motivated the decision to invest in photovoltaic energy?
The answer from the President of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Borba is clear: “With energy prices rising, if we hadn’t made this investment, we would be in a difficult situation. We realised that the electricity bill was growing steeply, and if we did nothing, this cost would be unsustainable in the medium and long term. That is why, and because of the environmental issue, we are making this investment“.
There is more beyond the economic benefit of investing in photovoltaic energy. If we consider the estimated useful life of the plants, the project will avoid the emission of 12,000 tons of CO2, which corresponds to the CO2 captured by a forest with an area of two and a half hectares.
Installation of 216 Qcells Q.Peak Duo 400 Wp modules at Josefina Silveira Fernandes Elderly Care Home
Photovoltaic installation at Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Borba, Portugal
The option was self-consumption installation. In self-consumption installations, companies are typically able to self-consume between 70 and 100% of the energy produced by the system, which corresponds to a significant reduction in the overall value of their energy bill.
Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Borba will produce and consume its own energy directly. “With the amount of panels we have and with the sun in Borba at its strongest from April to August, we’ll be able to meet almost all of our consumption needs. This will fortunately reduce a lot of consumption from the grid, which is very relevant for us, especially at a time when energy prices have been skyrocketing. But it’s not only better for reducing our bill, it’s better for the environment“, emphasises Rui Bacalhau, the institution’s President.
In a first phase, in 2018, SOLVasto installed 216 Qcells Q.Peak Duo 400 Wp modules at the Josefina Silveira Fernandes Nursing Home. In 2021, 80 Qcells Q.Peak Duo 460 Wp modules were installed at the D. Ana Angélica Silveira nursery and kindergarten and a further installation of 15 kWp is planned with a further 32 modules identical to those in the nursery. In addition to the installation, SOLVasto ensures the monitoring and maintenance of the photovoltaic installation to ensure it achieves maximum performance throughout its lifetime.
The second phase of installation in 2021 was in the nursery and kindergarten of Santa Casa de Borba and this year they will install another plant
Recommendation of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Borba
The institution’s administrative board is made up of young people very attentive to the evolution of renewable energies and focused on how they can contribute to sustainability. Rui Bacalhau recommends: “the entities that have the opportunity to make this investment in solar energy, do not waste time. This way, we are all prepared as quickly as possible to face up to the current demands of economic and environmental sustainability“.
Thanks to the projects implemented on national territory, SOLVasto is contributing to a reduction of almost 7,000 tons of CO2 per year and has the capacity for more. It is crucial that companies use the sun we have all year round, clean energy at our disposal, for the competitiveness of their businesses and for the future of the planet.
