Solar energy provides most of the electricity and heat used by Centro de Conferencias. The center has thus moved towards a sustainable energy system with very low emissions of greenhouse gases from electricity generation.
Using energy from the sun is an obvious choice in a place that enjoys 3000 hours of sunshine per year and few days that are completely overcast.
Capturing the rays of the sun and converting them to electricity takes place at the far northern end of the property, where an array of solar panels placed in a diamond-shaped formation on two acres of land generates electricity from the sun’s rays. The solar panels start producing electricity as soon as the morning sun hits the panels. By midday the production can reach up to 650 kW. Then it falls again, ending as the evening sun sets over the Pacific Ocean.
From the solar panels, the electricity runs in cables to the “Energy Center”. From here, the energy needed for the day-to-day operation of the Conference Center is sent to the different buildings, while surplus energy is stored in batteries at the energy center for use during the time when there is no sunshine. In the summer months, solar-generated energy can satisfy the entire needs of the Conference Center on most days. In the wintertime, electricity production is supplemented by a diesel generator.
Most solar plants are connected to a national power grid, which controls and supplements electricity generation. The solar power system at Centro de Conferencias, however, achieves independence, because an array of around 1,000 batteries can store the surplus electricity and deliver it as needed at nighttime, in cloudy weather or during days with less sunshine.
When the solar power system was established in 2015, it was the largest off-grid solar system in the world that could run without being connected to a diesel generator. With this bold initiative Centro de Conferencias has contributed to the development of renewable electricity production and the move towards a sustainable world.
A second energy system consisting of solar water heaters produces hot water. This is a much simpler system, which is highly efficient in extracting heat from the sunshine, and which provides hot water for the swimming pool and one of the accommodations.
