Burhani mosque, one of the largest mosques in old town Mombasa located near the harbor, was faced with the challenge of escalating power bills which had risen to the tune of kShs. 450,000 per month on average. 

Davis & Shirtliff was approached to offer an affordable solution that would help reduce their power bills to manageable levels. Receiving an average solar radiation of 7kWh/m2/day, Mombasa is a very ideal location for solar-powered solutions, and we embarked to design a solar grid-tie system to complement power supply from the national grid with solar. 

By the use of energy data logging equipment, we were able to estimate their daily energy use profile and designed a 50kW solar grid-tie solution, which primarily supplies electricity generated from the solar PV system. During days where the power demand exceeds what is supplied by the solar PV system, and at night where no solar power is generated, the grid-tie system then draws electricity from the national grid.   

Employing solar energy to achieve grid parity for this project, has significantly reduced the mosque’s reliance on grid power and this has resulted in the reduction of their power bills by over 30%