Solar Water Heating - Cape Town, South Africa

Every installed SWH shall be deemed to displace 200 kWh per month

2010-06-25T10:07:00.001+02:00

The new regulations show that under the Department of Energy, a SWH will be deemed to have saved 200 kWh per month.
3) Solar water heating
The standard offer rebate shall apply, except that a further qualification shall be
introduced:
Initially every installed SWH shall be deemed to displace 200 kWh per month
(‘the SWH saving”), for purposes of simplicity, and accordingly a monthly rebate
shall be payable based on:
Rebate per month = Standard offer (in R/kWh) X 200 kWh per month
In time the regulator may adjust the SWH saving (upwards or downwards) in line
with empirical evidence regarding the actual energy saving achieved by a SWH.
The Minister may determine, in consultation with the regulator, that the standard
offer needs to be revised upwards or downwards as necessary to increase the
efficacy of the incentive. This adjustment to the standard offer may be done up to 3-
times in a single MYPD cycle.

Too many advisers and a lack of skills are a recipe for government paralysis - DA admission

2010-06-21T10:15:00.004+02:00

Athol Trollip has noted that the lack of skills in government are causing decision paralysis . We know this in the renewable energy field, as Eskom, SABS, local and provincial governments have failed to ignite job creation and climate change mitigation because of the inability to make the decisions necessary and to enable private enterprise to make the most of opportunities.

10 day countdown to Electricity 25% hike

2010-06-21T09:44:00.000+02:00

Only 10 days are left until the Cape Town Electricity rates increase by 25% for middle to high users. Check your bill now... and make plans to keep it at todays level.

And then only 5.6% in 2007...

2009-08-19T02:57:00.000+02:00

Electricity...
The good news for residents is that the average increase is
5.6%. Consumers who purchase 400 kWh or less per month
will receive an additional free 50 kWh.

Do you remember when...tariffs rose only 4.6% ? 2006

2009-08-19T02:37:00.000+02:00

June 28 2006 at 08:55AM

Electricity tariffs in the City of Cape Town will increase by an average of 4,6 percent on July 1, a city spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Spokesperson Charles Cooper said the tariffs had been adjusted to cater for complaints about the daily service charge.

"This means that some customers will see an increase as low as 0,8 percent while others will see a once-off increase that is higher than the average adjustment."

Domestic consumption above 600kW.h/month would see service charge tariffs increase from R1.46 per day to R2,27 a day, including VAT. The energy charge would increase from 33,28 c/kW.h to 34,77 c/kWh.

Domestic consumption below 600kW.h/month would see energy charges increased from 45,99 c/kW.h to 46,34 c/kWh.

Bending the Curve – Your guide to tackling climate change in South Africa

2009-02-18T03:23:00.002+02:00

Bending the Curve – Your guide to tackling climate change in South Africa, has been released.

Bending the Curve is not just another book about the climate crisis, but is a practical guide – co-authored by 24 South African experts – that will help you move from deliberation to action. It provides South Africans with useful, hands-on information on what each of us can do within our individual spheres of influence, whether at work or privately.

Moving quickly from the most up-to-date science on climate change into practical tips, the book caters to a wide spectrum of readers. With chapters devoted to ‘You the business’, ‘You the government’, ‘You the architect and property developer’, ‘You the farmer’, ‘You at home’, ‘You the parent’ and many more, Bending the Curve speaks to anyone who is keen to develop a lucid, current perspective on what we know and what we can do about this global emergency.

You can order here

Western Cape lags behind Limpopo in impacting Climate change

2009-01-30T10:06:00.001+02:00

92% of people in Limpopo Province believe that they can reduce the impact of climate change by changing their habits. 52% of those in the Western Cape think so. (FutureFact 2008)
Source Eighty20.co.za

We can make a difference - we have some of the worst polluting power stations in the world!

2009-01-30T10:02:00.002+02:00

This week's Fact-a-Day theme: Our environment
Three of South Africa's power stations (in Witbank, Volksrust and Ellisras) are among the 20 worst polluting stations in the world. (CARMA – Carbon Monitoring for Action)

Source - Factaday from Eighty20.co.za

2009 starts with an Obama burst of renewable energy !

2009-01-22T16:48:00.004+02:00

We welcome the stance of President Obama to protect the earth from climate change.
You can read about it here

We are having continued demand for solar water heating in Cape Town, and our new stock of low pressure geysers has sold out already!

However we have another high pressure pumped system on test at SABS and hopw to have that accredited in a few months.

Solar heated water is still THE most efficient use of the solar energy to the actual point of use.

Join us and recommend that solar water heating is on people's minds when they are considering their home water heating needs.

SA ponders business spin-offs from solar- Engineering News

2008-09-29T11:13:00.000+02:00

South Africa is in the fortunate position of having one of the best climates in the world. Many South Africans, especially those living in the interior of the country, have become accustomed to monthly stretches of sun-drenched days. In fact, a study by Johannesburg’s City Power shows that, in Gauteng, there are only about 56 days a year when it is not sunny

Sunpower Solar Water Heating visits Germany 15th - 19th September 2008

2008-09-18T19:50:00.007+02:00

At the invitation of the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology and under the organisation of Inwent , Sunpower Solar Water Heating sent Robin Thomson, Managing Director to Bavaria.
The tour was arranged for Entrepreneurs from Western Cape and Gauteng to enable better utilization of Renewable energies.
The trip started on 15th September at the Ministry in Munich, and ended at the same venue on Friday 19th September 2008.
It was an intensive program visiting active businesses, city councils, private companies, research centers, technology clusters and manufacturing centres.
The key part that was shown was that through interaction and collaboration, the industry in Bavaria has managed to manage to maximise the use of resources and share knowledge to the benefit of Bavarians. The Bavarian authorities are aiming to spread this knowledge and promote their successes in education, commerce, research and implementation.
"As a Mechanical Engineer, I was really interested in the equipment used in the processes, and was sure that most of the same equipment was available already in South Africa. It was just the application of the equipment in generating energy that sets the Bavarians apart from us, " said Robin. "In addition there is a clear and deliberate collaboration between universities, companies, employees and government that is a good model to follow. I am looking forward to being part of a more open source knowledge sharing. In the past the attendees of tours and programs have kept the information to themselves, where we in Sunpower Solar Water Heating promote the open sharing of information to the benefit of society and South Africa.
The information will also be shared with SESSA
On Day 1 we visited a company that generated electricity from waste incineration of Munich municipal wasteMartin , and electricity from biowaste Bekon.
On Day 2 we went to the City of Furth called Solarstadt Furth because of its leadership in making solar the most widely available renewable energy source. Then we went to the Energy Technology Cluster which has brilliant cross linking of 10 industries and 10 technologies that are enable to interact and develop together. Innovation hubs have been widely promoted in South Africa, and a similar framework would be complementary in South Africa to the research done in University of Stellenbosch, Eskom, Department of Science and Technology, private companies, University of North West and listed companies. The cluster puts people into contact with each other to allow progress to be sped up.
Next we visted Energie Technologisches Zentrum Nurmberg (etz) which carries out small research, houses architects and small businesses and commercial operations such as Ecostream a division of the successful Econcern.
We also were fortunate to visit a great solar display centre of available commercial products that you can touch, see, feel and research. This was run by Solid and would be a good idea to replicate in South Africa.
On the Third day we visited the Bavarian Chamber of Commerce which gave us an overview of the role played by the chamber and having access to the database of the Bavarian companies. This is an extremely useful tool for making commercial contacts. This was followed by a visit to Grammer Solar
which manufactures solar air heating systems and sell photovoltaic in its energy neutral factory.
The final visit was to the research centre atz which manages to balance commercial manufacturing with research, combustion technology development, materials and process research and transfer of technology.
On the 4th day, we visited a 2 MW wind turbine plant and saw and discussed the operation aspects of the 3 turbines made by Vestas that feed electricity to the Bavarian grid.
This was followed by a visit to the Inwent training center where the hot water and PV systems display their performance on electronic displays. Inwent is a capacity building organisation that allows free transfer of skills, ideas and opportunities across the globe from Bavaria.
On the last day we visited a Geothermal plant in Unterhaching which was a highlight for an unproven technology. The project leader combined well drilling, geology, municipal needs, with Kalina technology for low temperature turbine operation. The result is a plant the size of a small factory that produces over 30 MW of heating capacity for the town and industry, as well as electricity generation of when heating in not required.
This was followed by a summary at the Ministry and a conclusion to the seminar.
Inwent was the host organisation of our trip . They were brilliant, perceptive and they were a fantastic group of hosts and hostesses. The support of the Bavarian Ministry was invaluable and it is up to us to follow the initiative to progress towards more use of all renewable energy in South Africa.

Cape Town Electricity Prices rise 36%

2008-09-06T11:54:00.003+02:00

These are the new rates

For those who are using electric geysers, you can get back to your old bill by adding a solar panel to your electric geyser.

This means you will pay R0.54 to R0.56 per unit (kWh)

Geyser and daily savings
100 R 3.19
150 R 4.54
200 R 5.83
250 R 7.18

Why solar is a good investment

2008-05-18T07:53:00.002+02:00

This article by Maya Fisher-French of Mail and Guardian gives a view on a solar investment

Power Crisis - Eskom Q and A

2008-04-16T14:19:00.002+02:00

Power Crisis Q and A from News 24.com

New Geyser price increases 10% - Sunpower Solar Water Heating can use your exisiting geyser instead of making you buy a new geyser

2008-04-03T05:42:00.004+02:00

All South African geyser manufacturers have implemented price increases recently of up to 10%. This is due to rising input costs - steel has risen 60% this year, fuel prices have risen each month and inflation is currently about 9.5%.

For this reason amongst others we encourage you to use your existing geyser for as long as it is in good order. We can convert most geysers to run on solar by adding a pump and a circulation loop. The system is intelligent and includes an element timer which means that it uses the electrical backup as efficiently as possible.

It turns the element off during the day, and only on for short periods to boost the temperature to your requirements.

Copper geysers last longer and are relatively easy to convert. Steel geysers can be more difficult, but you can extend their life by several years by servicing them and converting them to use solar.

Visit our site to see this section

Suppliers unable to meet booming solar-water heaters demand – Eskom

2008-03-26T04:56:00.001+02:00

Engineering news reports here about the progress of Eskom's SWH project.

Make Nature First Your Second Nature!

2008-03-03T20:29:00.004+02:00

I am the father of a 7 month old child and look around at what my generation will leave him. I am not concerned that we don't know what to do, but more that we may not do it.

Payback - or pay forward

We are often asked what the payback period on a solar water heating system is. Payback is centred on how long it will take me for my decision to start giving me money back. It varies from 3 years for low pressure systems to 15 years for top of the range systems. Payback does not focus on what you will do with that money.

I think it is time to review why we use payback, and look at the PAY FORWARD model.
In paying forward we are doing good now, and will not necessarily reap the full benefits for ourselves. However, all the future users will benefit. This may be planting a tree that gives shade and fruit, building a road, laying a telephone line or educating a child. Long term vision far outweighs the short term cost.

We know that in South Africa we use electricity generated in the main by old coal fired power stations. These are major contributors to global warming, and we have rightly perhaps been investing more in education, health and welfare in South Africa than in generating more power, or using the power we generate less wastefully.

Eskom produces over 95% of South Africa's electricity and are unlikely to be competitive unless they use more coal, a non-renewable energy source. Their commitment to non-renewable power is over R200bn. Their commitment to a small solar water heating project aimed at high income South Africans is 2bn. 1%! The best solution is to diversify the type and source of energy usage - cook on gas, use natural light as much as possible, heat water at the point of usage.

My challenge to you is : Reduce your negative global impact by reducing your reliance on coal fired power stations. You can pay forward by using less energy, by using renewable energy and by using all energy as efficiently as you can. You can pay for a cleaner future yourself. Don't wait for a state enterprise under crisis conditions to tell you what to do.

My favourite ironic request was from Sappi, a global giant in the paper industry. They wanted to convert their hostels' water heaters from gas and electricity to solar water heating, but needed a 2 year payback... For a company that grows trees, it seemed typical of short sighted management. Imagine if they cut down all their trees before they were 2 years old.... we would never have paper! The same applies for solar - over time it becomes more valuable. By today, I am sure that the same Sappi
team has changed to solar by now and looking forward to having their full electrical needs being supplied by Eskom.

It is quite easy to do the right thing for yourself, your dependents, your children and grandchildren.

You have heard the climate change argument, seen the movies and blamed others,now take responsibility for yourself and your own actions.
By converting your water heating to solar, you will save money - time and again during its lifespan. See if you can find a friend who has used solar for over 5 years and ask them if they would go back to only electricity. I do understand that the first step is the largest, but it is the best decision you will ever make to start living a renewable and sustainable lifestyle!

Invest in solar now - you will not be disappointed.

Make Nature First Your Second Nature!

Robin

Make Power while the sun shines

2008-02-18T11:51:00.002+02:00

Make Power while the sun shines from Mail and Guardian

Split pumped solar water heating systems with vacuum tubes

2007-11-01T08:57:00.000+02:00

Solar prices remain constant - Eskom prices to increase by 14.2%

2007-10-30T10:22:00.000+02:00

NERSA, the national energy regulator has approved a 14.2% average tariff increase for electricity. Municipalities can expect a 12% increase, and this will probably be passed on to the consumer.

This will have a positive effect on the demand for solar water heating for domestic use, as it will highlight the amount of energy we waste on heating water continuously using electricity and make solar a great alternative.

Eskom has also announced the start of a solar water heating programme - which we encourage.
It is not perfect yet, but is a start that we in the industry will work with.
The Eskom criteria add costs to the installation of solar water heaters, but they offer a subsidy that will offset part of that cost.

Currently we are offering systems at a lower cost than those in the Eskom program, but we will participate to enable all customers to choose their system.

To get the price to convert your existing geyser to solar, visit this website

Where do I start if I want to use solar water heating?

2007-07-15T18:59:00.000+02:00

Your starting point should be to work out what you need, and just what you have. If you have a larger water heater than you need, then you are paying for the overdesign.
Check what you have by looking on the name plate on your geyser, it will give you the Pressure (kPa) and Volume(litres), the name of the manufacturer, the Serial Number and the Standing losses (kWh).
The standing losses are larger for bigger geysers. The measurement kWh is the amount of electricity you would be charged for to keep the water hot for 24 hours if you did not use any.

For working out your usage, you can average 50 litres of hot water per adult per day, but it might not be as much if you are water wise.

Water wise people shower, rather than bath, use low flow showerheads, and water saving aerators on their taps.

Energy wise people use timers on their geysers to minimise wasted energy, but have hot water available when needed.