ZEST Weg develops special transformers for solar farm
South Africa, Wadeville: Zest WEG has recently supplied a South African gold mine with locally manufactured transformers for its solar farm.
Image source: Zest WEG
South Africa, Wadeville: Zest WEG has recently supplied a South African gold mine with locally manufactured transformers for its solar farm.
The company has supplied 10 custom-designed transformers of 5 MVA capacity each, specially developed for this PV project at Zest WEG’s Wadeville factory.
“In this application, our transformers will step up from 690 V current to 11 kV,” says Rynard Porgieter, Sales Manager for transformers at Zest WEG. “A dual input, single output configuration is a cost-effective innovation, allowing one transformer to be fed by a number of string inverters through the dual input.”
He noted a further innovation of the recent PV project was the use of ester oil – rather than oil from hydrocarbons – as a coolant in the transformers. With ester oil being a focus of dedicated research at the WEG Group’s head office in Brazil, Potgieter said this option brought considerable benefits to the South African solar plant.
The units have the advantage of not being flammable, says Portgieter, so they would not contribute to a potential explosion or fire. Ester oil, claims he, retains heat better thus moderating the temperature of the transformer windings while not activated.
Source: Zest WEG
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