Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy is the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa. Ol Pejeta has made a commitment to ONLY be using renewable energy by 2023. This task begins with the conversion of our diesel-powered boreholes to solar. Each borehole once converted to solar - we have 10 of them - will save US$7,000 per year in fuel. All our savings from going solar will be put straight back into wildlife conservation and community development. By going solar, we save rhinos!
Ol Pejeta Conservancy currently operates 10 diesel powered water pumping stations. These pumping stations are costly, noisy, expensive to run and are bad for the environment. We started exploring the shift from diesel power to renewable energy on the conservancy back in 2014. The desire to use renewable energy is driven by our goal to become more environmentally sustainable in energy consumption and production.
Each new solar powered pumping system is estimated to save the company US$7,000 per year in fuel and maintenance costs. The new system incorporates the Internet of Things (IoT) and can be monitored and controlled remotely using a computer anywhere in the world. It will allow us to monitor water levels in the tank, power generated by the panels and water flow rates as well as to collect data on water consumption patterns.
The savings from converting our diesel pumps to solar will be an estimated US$70,000 a year. With our not-for-profit status, the funds will be reinvested yearly into our wildlife conservation and community development programs. This project will also help the conservancy reduce its carbon footprint as well as lessening pollution (noise and air) and potentially earn carbon credits in the future.
