Institutional solar program completed in Szeged

The institutional solar program has been completed, announced Tamás Kovács, deputy mayor for economic affairs, at a press conference held at the Móra Ferenc Museum warehouse in Szeged on Monday, July 15.

Last year, the Szeged Water Company (Szegedi Vízmű) invested 165 million forints in the installation of solar panels on its premises, covering more than 60 percent of the energy consumption of the mainly municipal company. This year, the municipality spent 222 million forints of its own money to install solar systems in 21 of its institutions, Kovács said.

In addition to the ten kindergartens and seven community centers, the Dorozsma Cemetery, the IH Event Center, the crematorium, and the museum's external storage facility have been equipped with solar panels. Three of the systems are the largest domestic small power plants with a rated capacity of 50 kW. The total rated capacity of the power plants is 463 kW, said Kovács.

According to the deputy mayor, experience shows that energy upgrades in facilities, combined with the installation of solar panels, can achieve energy savings of up to 70 percent.

Ottó Fogas, director of the Móra Ferenc Museum, said that most of the buildings of the public collection are city monuments, so solar panels cannot be installed on or near the buildings. However, it was possible to build a small power plant next to the external warehouse. The warehouse's annual electricity bill is 6-7 million forints and its gas bill is 12-13 million forints. Thanks to the installation of solar panels and the modernization of the cooling, heating, and hot water production system, this is expected to drop to 3-5 million forints, Fogas explained.

Photos: Szilvia Molnar / Szegedify