Solar Tree

An-Najah National University launched the first phase of the “Off-Grid Solar Tree” project, which was installed in front of the main gate of the new campus, with a capacity of 3.18 kilowatts. It is noteworthy that this Solar Tree project is the first of its kind in Palestine.

The tree, which is 3.5 m high, generates electricity from solar energy, which enables charging 100 electrical devices, including computers, mobile phones, wheelchairs, and lighting 20 LED lamps, with the possibility of controlling the time periods of their lighting during the night.

The tree consists of 3 branches, each is connected to a solar panel. During the daytime when the sunlight is sufficient to meet the loads, the generated solar energy directly feed these loads. Any excess of solar energy is stored in the battery.

Thanks to this pilot as well as others which have already been installed, the university will be able to reduce its CO2 emissions by 550 tons annually.  The project will also result in reduced use of diesel fuel during the long hours of power cuts to provide better services to students and staff.

The solar tree is monitored via VRM Portal – Victron Energy which is an interface visualizing the battery state of charge, power consumption, power harvest from solar in real-time using graphs (daily, monthly and yearly),and detailed analytical reports. The interface detects also potential issues early by setting alerts, which helps preventing system failure.