You may be interested to read that George Airport is the first airport in South Africa to be fully powered by the use of solar power. In fact, it actually has some spare capacity that can be used elsewhere.
Some 2,000 solar panels have been installed at George Airport in South Africa.
George Airport is located close to the Garden Route between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. In excess of 600,000 passengers use the airport every year. The airport has been the winner of the South African Airport of the Year on a number of occasions.
The airport has 2,000 solar photovoltaic panels that provide more than enough energy to power things in the airport. The spare capacity that is generated is used to provide power to a number of residential homes in the area.
No doubt by using the solar panels to help generate electricity, the airport is able to reduce its carbon emission levels that is something that is being encouraged around the world. It is hoped that some other airports in South Africa will also be looking to make use of solar panels to provide energy in their buildings.
Solar panels are being used for so many things these days and in a variety of locations here in the UK. For instance, in addition to panels being fitted to the roofs of residential properties we have heard of solar panels being installed by a supermarket and a garden centre. They can be incorporated into the likes of a rucksack to help charge up a backpacker’s mobile phone whilst he or she is perhaps far off the beaten track and used to power a motor in a garden pond that pumps water through a fountain and waterfall.
It will be interesting to hear if many airports in the UK make use of solar power to help provide electricity to run various things such as lighting, computers and baggage carousels to name but a few.
