Solar power has come to the rescue when it came to the energy crisis in South Africa. For most of the year, the country was experiencing a series of rolling blackouts. This hindered many businesses and left people in the dark. While this boosted the candle industry, the inability to utilize electricity hindered a great deal of the country. Scheduled power cuts were implemented in hopes to conserve energy throughout the year. While South Africa was dark most of the year, solar power was able to give the people some extra days of light.
The energy crisis is a result of a major collapse of a coal-silo generation station late last year. This caused for scheduled energy cuts in hopes to conserve power. During the first half of the year, the country shut down power for a total of 82 days. The number of days would have been substantially more if it wasn’t for the power generated by renewable sources such as wind and solar.
South Africa ventured into renewable energy as a green luxury, but fossil fuels have remained the primary source of power. Solar and wind power, however, was the saving factor during the energy crisis, acting as emergency generators. The power created from these forms of renewable energy save South Africa 15 days of darkness in the first half of the year. Four of the 15 days, renewable energy prevented power cuts entirely.
A few days of light was not the only thing that was saved by renewable energy, but solar and wind power had a significant financial impact as well. According to President Jacob Zuma, the rolling blackouts reduced economic growth by about one percent or roughly 3.5 billion dollars. This number would have been increased by over 380 million dollars if it was not for the energy produced by wind and solar power. On the days that renewable energy was the main provider, about 85 gallons of diesel was saved every megawatt hour.
Solar energy is a cost effective method of power and has a positive impact on the environment. Contact Sol-Up today to get a solar estimate and to begin your journey to going solar.
