Solar panels installed in cemetery in Croatia

The City of Osijek in Croatia has completed a solar power system on the roof of the building at the Central Cemetery. The facility will cover 70% of its electricity consumption. The photovoltaic facility is one of almost twenty in the city’s fleet including the ones on kindergartens, schools, and swimming pools.

So far, solar power plants have been installed on the buildings of a high school playground, BIOS Business Incubator, kindergartens Sarvaš, Latica, Ivančica and Mak, water utility Vodovod Osijek, the Cultural Center, sports halls Jug 2 and Zrinjevac, shooting range Pampas, municipal swimming pools, and elementary schools Ljudevit Gaj, Vijenac and Tin Ujević, the City of Osijek said.

The investment in the Central Cemetery is worth almost EUR 102,000, of which 40% was covered by the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund (FZOEU).

Mayor Ivan Radić noted that the PV plant would significantly cut the electricity bills of the city’s cemetary operator Ukop as it will produce about 70% of the electricity needed for its activity. The savings are estimated at EUR 18,000 per year.

Radić: The city has 18 PV systems providing 70% of the electricity needed for the facilities on which they are installed

Osijek won the Croatian Eco City title for two years in a row.

The solar power systems on 18 buildings are owned by the local authority and they have greatly contributed to the achievement, he stressed.
Radić explained that the facilities produce 70% of the electricity that the structures consume.

The city also plans to invest in energy renovation of its buildings. It has secured EUR 900,000 for the refurbishment of the kindergarten in the Mačkamama district. A solar power plant will also be installed on the building. One such installation is planned for the Children’s Theater building, too, while the paperwork is ready for solar panels on nine more elementary schools as well.

Vedran Novokmet, Ukop CEO, said the investment is particularly important because the building at the Central Cemetery is the largest consumer of energy. Considering the annual savings and the investment, it is expected to pay off in 40 months, he revealed.