Current research indicates a significant increase in the growth of energy production from renewables, with rooftop solar PV systems having the largest growth potential. This is expected to lead to a leapfrog effect, much like that of mobile phones in Africa during the past 15 years. The effect could disrupt and lead to a world-wide “death spiral” for traditional centralised utility companies.

Load shedding doesn’t have to mean lights out at your home or business. Now there’s a range of effective, and affordable load-shedding solutions to keep you switched on. Find out more here...

The renewable energy sector is steadily growing in the global market, and with rapidly decreasing prices, fast gaining traction in South Africa. The installation of a solar PV (photovoltaic) solution for Pinewood Village in Cape Town has indicated that commercial scale solar PV systems offer high cost savings through low payback periods, typically around three years, instantly saving business owners money upon installation, as well as drastically reducing carbon footprints.

Finding solutions to maintain productivity during load shedding could assist the home and business owner to save money in the long run. Once the load is managed, you are well on your way to engage productively in building up a power back-up system that can be expanded to solar PV that may provide independence from the grid.

When Mr Dave Killa started planning and designing his new house in Claremont, Cape Town, he was open to new experiences. He also wanted to achieve as much independence from the utilities as possible, due to the looming prospects of Day Zero and the return of load shedding. Visiting AWPower’s sustainable living housing project in Harfield Village convinced him that it was possible for his new house to run autonomously, requiring little to no support from the municipality’s electricity and water grids. The result is a truly off-grid house in the middle of the city. Here is Dave’s story:

While the cost of Eskom generated electricity is expected to increase dramatically following approval by Nersa for the recovery of R32.69-billion from consumers, the cost of solar PV generated electricity is plummeting, testing pay-back periods of less than 3 years for commercial solar inverter applications that have no storage capacity. However off-grid battery inverters for typical home use have a longer pay-back period, therefore the choice of battery type is an important consideration. In this case study, we reviewed the benefits of deploying a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) energy stora...

While the City of Cape Town recently announced that there will be no Day Zero in 2019, informed observers of long-term weather patterns and water infrastructure planning have cautioned that it may be too soon to celebrate. Fortunately, with a myriad of rainwater harvesting options available, concerned homeowners are able to reduce the impact of this uncertainty while at the same time contributing towards long-term sustainability.

The cost of generating electricity through a residential or commercial rooftop PV installation is approximately half of ESKOM’s cost for generation from burning coals. Likewise the average household or commercial building has access to technology that enables it to harvest most of its household water, safe for human consumption, from rainwater. Both electricity and water are dependent on storage capacity that will increase their effectiveness.

AWPower engineers recently completed a sustainable living housing project in Harfield Village (Claremont) where, for large portions of the year, there is very little to no reliance on the electricity grid and municipal water supply. This is our story, with indication of approximate expenditure.

Can you imagine living in a house, independent from the municipality for your own electricity and water supply?