Every now and then QDM gets the opportunity to be part of something unique and exciting, and we’re always up for the challenge!
More recently, the Bulungula Eco Lodge which is situated on the banks of the beautiful Xhora River Mouth along the Wild Coast of South Africa, gave us such an opportunity.
Bulungula Eco Lodge is 100% owned and managed by the local community and is completely self-sufficient when it comes to both water and energy, with no municipal service infrastructure in place . QDM was commissioned to design and install a solar-powered EV charging station for the lodge, in anticipation of their new Mercedes Benz electric vehicle arriving at the beginning of July. This electric vehicle’s off-grid solar charging solution is the first of its kind for the Wild Coast – an achievement we are very proud to be part of.
After researching a variety of aspects, including load requirements and prevailing weather conditions, QDM installed aninverter system with large enough battery capacity to accommodate the 11kW 3-phase EV charging system. The solar array is more than adequate to charge the EV directly from solar. The 64kW battery of the Mercedes Bens EQB can be fully charged (from empty) in 6-8 hours. With this fully charged battery, a range of approximately 450km can be achieved with room to spare.
Being a community-owned and managed lodge, it was important for QDM to include the local community in the installation of both inverters and panels, and a number of keen young technically-minded ladies and gentlemen were eager to not only show off their existing skills, but to also gain expertise in all aspects of the installation, from physical work to the more intricate programming and setting up of the system.
The lodge itself also received some solar-TLC from QDM back in December, where we installed an inverter system with battery back-up and its own PV array to ensure the beers are always kept cold for their guests.
We would like to congratulate BULUNGULA ECO-LODGE on this achievement and thank them for the opportunity to be a part of this amazing journey – we didn’t want to leave!