waking the sleeping giant

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south africa has an abundant supply of solar energy. yet this freely available resource is overlooked and under-utilized. speaking at a recent solar energy conference , eastern transvaal premier mathews phosa outlined his vision to reduce his province's dependence on environmentally unfriendly and expensive fossil fuel based energy.

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padi matlala
reports....

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a rather strange irony characterizes the energy economy in south africa and in many other sunny parts of the developing world. solar energy hardly features although it plays a larger and growing role in the energy economies of industrialised countries to the north - countries with a far lower complement of sunshine.

a case of those who have most, using least. and those who have least wanting to derive maximum benefit from the little they have.

if all goes premier phosa's way, this skewed logic may not exist much longer in his part of the world.

according to phosa, a first step towards that goal lies in creating an enabling policy environment to foster optimum use of this renewable energy resource. the priority will be to use solar technology to enable needy communities to rise above poverty.

solar applications range from the most basic to highly sophisticated ones. the most basic include incorporating solar conserving techniques into housing design: orienting houses to catch and hold winter warmth; managing ventilation to keep them cool in summer and in this way minimising heating and cooling costs.

north carolina state in america has taken a lead in this respect, producing a manual to inform home builders on ways of integrating solar conserving techniques in house designs.

solar water heaters constitute a more sophisticated household solar technology with a range of water heaters available on the market.

solar water heaters are more than fifty percent more energy efficient for household use than is fossil fuel technology.

an advantage that should not be lost sight of.

again, the experience in the western countries presents an instructive lesson. in america, a tiny five percent of overall electricity generated is used for household water heating. in south africa, with a more abundant supply of solar energy, the picture is very different. fifty percent of all electric energy is used for water heating, with all its economic and environmental ramifications.

another application is the solar cooker. solar cooking technology has yet to win a place in rural household use.

once accepted, it has the potential to help change people's lives in a number of ways. solar cookers and water heaters hold enormous job creation opportunities for the informal business sector.

phosa emphasizes that women are likely to benefit most from solar technology. it could relieve them of the drudgery of fetching wood in the veld while relieving pressure on the environment to provide wood fuel for household use. that way, the rate of deforestation would be slowed down.

photovoltaic cells can generate electricity that can be used for lighting and running household appliances. many far flung rural corners are unlikely to be connected to the electricity grid. solar lighting technology will brighten these people's lives. it will extend the utilisation of school buildings beyond the daylight hours for social and educational purposes. for clinics and homes, solar powered refrigeration would prolong safe storage of perishable food and medicines.

by rural standards, photovoltaic technology is expensive at present. more widespread use and improved technology will reduce manufacturing costs and increase efficiency, lowering the cost per unit of electricity generated. already it is less costly than extending the electricity grid to some outlying areas.

solar energy is a sleeping giant. waking it could transform the lives of many in a number of ways. the challenge extended to experts at the conference was to draw appropriate frameworks and guidelines to take on board the scale of urban and rural needs.

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