Solar Power
We Strive To Be Environmentaly Friendly
Roemer's Grinding Works runs the entire office and approximately 20% of the factory on Solar Power as of 2014. With our specially designed system, we are able to produce up to 40kW of power a day. Our average daily power consumption is around 120kW, which can go a s high as 200kW at busy times, thus we also make use of generators and National Grid power, but our use of those is significantly reduced thanks to the Solar set-up.
The Sunpower E20 Solar Panels have the highest (20%) efficiency on the market. With high efficiency and performance and a low voltage-temperature coefficient, anti-reflective glass and exceptional low-light performance, the system provides outstanding energy delivery per peak power Watt.
The Hoppecke regenerative energy storage solution has good resistance to cycling, a long life expectancy and works on the lead-acid system, thus it is ideal for solar/off-grid applications. We also make use of the FG Wilson Generator as a back-up system. The suppliers work on a global generator standard and thus deliver a product which is reliable, fuel efficient and of high quality. They pay special attention to load acceptance, cooling efficiency, noise and vibration. With the help of TFG Energy Solutions, we have been able to set up a system that exceeds existing environmental regulations. We have been able to reduce our air emissions, and with the highly accurate measuring system we have in place, we are able to monitor our energy consumption in real time. We have drastically reduced our National Grid energy consumption, thus helping to alleviate pressure in South Africa on an already highly pressured grid.
Waste Management
Being that we work with a large amount of water, abrasives and steel, we tend to build up a lot of waste. We have implemented a system where all off-cuts are recorded and used until they are too small to be of any use. We have set up a steel sorting and recycling system and send the scrap to metal scrap yards for recycling. The majority of our machines use water. In order to save, these machines have reservoirs which store and cycle the water when the machine is in use. None of our machines are connected to the water mains, to ensure water is used as efficiently as possible. Our segments and grinding wheels are all inert, however, they are not biodegradable. In order to get full use of them, we also store the end pieces that are too small for our own use and donate them to Top Stones, the company that started the Scratch Patch, so they may make further use of them for tumbling and buffing. From the office, all our paper work from years gone by is shredded and also recycled, this we do annually.
We have also computerised most of our systems and records, thus reducing the amount of paper we use. As a whole, we try to be as environmentally friendly as our industry allows, going the extra mile where we can.
We try where we can, to only use FSC certified suppliers for all our office stationary & wood supply.
Waste Management Solutions
Roemer's is partnered with EnviroServ Waste Management
