We had the pleasure this week to experience hands-on the largest single rooftop solar installation in Africa, generating 542.4kW power. The impressive “White House’ Vodacom office building in Century City, Cape Town had all of 3600m² of roof tiles removed and replaced by solar panels.
Solar energy can, if marketed correctly, help South African companies overcome the financial implications of future price hikes. Particularly medium-size businesses can benefit.
How would one prepare for a possible solar storm that could knock out all power grids, satellites and communications we rely on?
The lurch towards a healthy future received a welcome boost over the weekend with the staging of the first Sustainable Living and Indigenous Plant Fair (SLIP) at the Royal Showgrounds.
The University of Pretoria has installed a solar water heating system, which – with a total 672m2 collector surface – is the biggest glazed installation in Southern Africa.
In late January and again in the second week of March, the sun lashed out in a bit of a temper tantrum, on both occasions sending out a powerful interplanetary coronal mass ejection whose full effects reached Earth in a few days. We got lucky: Nothing much happened, and the resulting space weather storm didn’t pack as big a punch as expected.
If you’re not passionate about the earth, don’t bother to do the 5 hour trip from Cape Town to Forest Edge along the Knysna forest. Although it is a multi-award-winning resort with very well equipped and serviced cottages, this is ultimately a Nature Lovers’ Retreat.
The Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa (SESSA) has welcomed Government’s allocation of R4.7-billion to the solar water heater campaign, as confirmed by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in his budget speech last week (February 22).
John from ‘Wisdom to Nourish' writes that many people are experiencing broken sleep, strange or vivid dreams and possibly also feelings of anxiety or fear at this time.
On Friday afternoon we were about to hit ‘send’ to release this issue, when a thick smoke invaded our office like a ghost. We ran outside to see the wetland beyond our wall go up in flames – fanned by a strong wind blowing in our direction.
South Africans have flooded social networks after rumours that an approaching solar flare was deadly.
South Africa has an average of over 2,500 hours of sunshine annually. The country's solar radiation output is over twice that of Europe and one of the highest outputs in the world. This makes it a perfect climate for solar energy.
In recent months South Africa has seen a dramatic change in its energy policy as the Department of Energy, NERSA and Eskom have taken steps to move to a renewable energy future.
In Part 2 of the CSP Today South Africa Guide, we look at how South Africa should be readily embracing concentrating solar power (CSP) as a low-carbon, sustainable, base load energy alternative to coal. So why do its energy authorities remain unconvinced?
Understanding solar geysers is one of the new life skills we all need to acquire in our society's leap from fossil to solar energy. As a next installment in our series on solar geyser systems, here is what Tasol Solar has on offer.
South African Energy and Public Enterprises Ministers, Elizabeth Dipuo Peters and Malusi Gigaba are both speaking at the opening session of the upcoming Solar Energy Africa conference in Johannesburg from 19-20 September.
Since the light bulb wired the world we can no longer live without electricity and the abundance thereof. However, in South Africa we have become used to living with less electricity, because of the energy shortages at Eskom.
One of the biggest power guzzlers in our domestic homes is the hot water geyser. It is reported to use between 40 and 60% of your electricity consumption. This of course depends on how much hot water you use, how hot you've set your thermostat and whether you keep it on all the time. It also depends on other appliances in your house, for example whether you have an electric or gas stove.
Finding alternative energy solutions is everyone's dilemma . We are expecting significant black-outs after or even during the World Cup and of course the government's rebates on solar geysers have become really attractive now. We know this will make a significant difference to our carbon footprints, so what more are we waiting for?
Solar means 24-Hour power for African village
Africans in the small community of Tsumkwe, Namibia, have something they haven't had for three years: electricity 24 hours a day. Juwi Solar, a company headquartered in Germany, has installed a hybrid solar system in the community that supplies all public buildings and 100 households with round-the-clock power.
