AN OFFICE BUILDING IN VARNA USES ONLY SOLAR POWER

The first energy autonomous office building in Bulgaria has opened in the Black Sea coastal city of Varna. It is located in a region with no access to the electricity transmission network and is entirely solar powered. The total consumption of power per day, generated by the solar panels, is less than 1 kilowatt.

The business centre consists of three identical wooden buildings. Most important is that lighting and heating are independent of the electricity transmission network. The electricity never goes off.

Eng. Kolyo Oreshkov, manager of the centre for energy solutions says: “We do not depend on many factors, we depend only on sunlight.”

The lighting is light emitting diode and can be controlled via Internet. According to experts, generating electricity from sunlight is easy. Eng. Kolyo Oreshkov explains that solar regulators accept the voltage from the solar panels on the roofs. The regulators inject energy to the accumulator group, which maintains the charging.

The building has all modern conveniences and technologies related to electricity. Eng. Miroslav Gutsalo says that  energy is provided not only for computers, servers, but for hot water boilers, kitchen appliances and for a workshop.

Eng. Oreshov adds that they make coffee and warm their sandwiches, which increases the consumption by 1 or 2 kilowatts, but the overall consumption of the business centre is 800 watts.

It is a 5 kilowatt system and has a long term guarantee. The investment is between 20,000 – 25,000 BGN, but saves electricity bills for the next 15 years.