INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cabling
INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cabling
Fit-for-purpose solar
cables for Africa
Subsea cable reinforces
Mauritius as a
communication hub in
sub-Saharan Africa
new socio-economic models
centred around the new
digital economy.”
Philippe Piron, President of
Alcatel Submarine Networks
said: “We are proud to
support IOX in this project,
one which will be a step-
change in capacity for
Maurititus and Rodrigues.
ASN is confident that the
bandwidth, resilience and
traffic routing of the IOX
Cable System, combined with
our technology capabilities,
will enable us to address the
fast-evolving expectations
and demands of end-users.”
SOLARFLEX-X PV1-F cable. Image taken from Helukabel’s website.
Specialist cable manufacturer, Helukabel,
has invested considerable resources in
the development of a comprehensive
range of cables and accessories
exclusively for solar energy applications.
This has positioned the company as a
world leader in the supply of cabling
solutions for many of the world’s
most advanced solar plants, as well as
cemented its status as a local solutions
provider for some of South Africa’s main
solar projects. Most recently this list
includes the latest plants in Kalkbult,
Droogfontein and De Aar, among others.
The company is also gearing up to
supply several other new-build projects
throughout southern Africa.
According to Helukabel South Africa
Sales Manager, Hardus van Dyk,
Helukabel’s foresight saw the company
already develop appropriate solutions
for photovoltaic applications in the early
‘90s with the development of its first
photovoltaic (PV) cables which are still
marketed under the well-known Solarflex
trademark. These carry global approvals
from TÜV and VDE. In combination
with its state-of-the-art PV connectors,
the company can offer users in the
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photovoltaic industry pre-assembled PV
cables and wires for quick plug-and-play,
on-site installation.
These pre-assembled solutions include
chains, PV wiring fuse/diode, pre-
assembled potential equalisation cables,
adaptors and other fit-for-purpose
photovoltaic cables.
Components in the solar range include
panel boxes, male and female connectors
and branches with a host of accessories
that include cable glands, protection
tubes, shrink-on sleeves and cable ties.
“An example of the Solarflex solutions
is Helukabel’s Solarflex-X PV1-F solution
specifically for the solar industry, which is
able to withstand the harsh environments
of solar plants, exceeds TÜV, CE, Rohs and
VDE quality certifications to ensure the
longevity of installation where it is used –
which generally has an anticipated life of
25 years’ service,” van Dyk says.
All Solarflex cables are ozone, UV
and weather resistant and are highly
resistant to chemical interference, as
well as fire and abrasion. In addition,
the cables can be made in rodent
resistant versions or to customers’ exact
requirements for specific sites. The
bare copper, tinned and finely stranded
cable is double insulated with cross
linked Polyolefin while the outer sheath
comprises the same material in black,
red or blue. The nominal voltage of this
particular cable is rated at 600/1000 V
AC and 1800 V DC.
While most projects awarded thus far
are for solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, the
company also has access to dedicated
cabling solutions for wind farms in
addition to its range of standard cables.
“We are confident that we can supply
every requirement of the local renewable
energy market with quality certified cables
that are tailor-made to each individual
energy sector’s requirements. Our offering
thus far is unique in that we offer local
consortiums responsible for building our
renewable energy plants with a complete
solution for all cabling requirements,
and where necessary are able to call on
technical expertise of our international
parent company to assist with any special
requirement,” adds van Dyk.
www.intelligentcio.com
A new submarine cable system, IOX
Cable System, spanning more than 8,850
kilometres, will enhance communications
capabilities along the India to South
Africa route, providing the first open
cable in Mauritius and connecting for the
first time the island of Rodrigues.
IOX Cable Ltd – a Mauritius-based
company – and Alcatel Submarine
Networks (ASN), part of Nokia, have
signed a turnkey agreement for the
deployment of the IOX Cable System,
which will increase the availability of
ultra-high speed broadband services and
reinforce Mauritius as a communication
hub in sub-Saharan Africa.
The IOX Cable System will stretch from
Mauritius to Rodrigues, to the east coast
of South Africa and then on to the east
coast of India. Providing an ultimate
design capacity of over 13 terabits-per
second per fibre pair, the system will
www.intelligentcio.com
allow easy connectivity to current and
future undersea cables on the east and
west coast of Africa, delivering a gateway
to the continent and a new alternate
route between Asia and Africa.
The system’s deployment will support
ultra-fast data transmission to address
the growth of digital communications
and cloud computing requirements,
enabling IOX to offer differentiated
services, while strengthening service,
reliability and redundancy to
existing cables.
Arunachalam Kandasamy, Founder
and CEO of IOX Cable Ltd said: “IOX is
committed to delivering its end-users
with advanced infrastructures that
incorporate technology innovations.
Leveraging ASN’s state-of-the-art
technologies we will be able to continue
to support and drive broadband
infrastructure development based on
The IOX Cable System
will integrate ASN’s latest
innovations in subsea
communications, including
the 1620 SOFTNODE and
ROADM branching unit
offering dynamic features
for enhanced system
resilience as well as utilising
ASN’s highly reliable
submarine repeaters, all
managed by its end-to-
end submarine network
management system.
As part of the contract,
ASN will also be in charge
of project management,
system design, marine
operations and system
commissioning supported by
IOX’s own team of industry
experienced personnel. ¡
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