As South Africa is about to enter the coldest months of the southern hemisphere, SA citizens are warned of longer load shedding periods from June to August. Fortunately, some technological innovators have created or introduced devices and equipment that can help South African citizens cope with the long hours of carrying on with business operations; or in performing daily chores, during scheduled power outages.
Tech Innovations South Africans Use in Coping with Load Shedding Events
The dire prediction for the year 2023 is that power cuts will last as long as 16 hours every day. That means people only have 8 hours of electricity to use during the cold winter months.
Load shedding was a solution adopted way back in 2007, and has remained in practice up to the present. Shedding or reducing power means cutting down the demand of some consumers to bring back the consumption rate to a predetermined safe level.
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ind below some examples of tools that help SA citizens cope with the scheduled power cuts that continue to take place after more than 15 years:
In ordinary households, the simplest technology available to folks who can’t afford high tech solutions are torches, candles and some wood to burn. To ensure that torches will light fully, households must also have a good supply of matches and kerosene as fire-producing implements.
Solar Energy-Powered Devices Other options are solar lamps, solar batteries and solar panels, which are available to those who have greater need, and of course, greater purchasing capacity and ability.
Load Management Programs are solutions used by big and energy-intensive buildings, as a means to provide uninterrupted power supply for their customer-tenants. Using data feeds related to load shedding schedules, the program’s AI enables the building administrator to control and distribute electricity produced by a secondary power source. The latter may be a diesel-powered electricity generator, a solar-powered battery or a windmill-powered electricity generator that activates as a secondary source of electrical power whenever the main utility company is load shedding.
In small to medium sized businesses, as well as in condominium buildings with generators as back-up power sources, Load Management Programs can also be installed to ensure the equitable distribution of generator-produced electricity.
To many, night time loadshedding events are the most detested because as people look forward to getting their rest, lack of air conditioning or proper heating can make sleeping hours and the bed uninviting.
Moreover, it’s also important to have electrical power to keep security systems working as a way of fending off criminal elements.
South Africa actually has many innovative developers devoted to creating potential solutions that can make a real impact. Yet political and economic analysts say that the real root cause of South Africa’s electricity problems are the corrupt deals and transactions of many government officials. Apparently, corruption continues to floursih and is still widespread even after the incarceration of former SA president (2009 – 2018), Jacob Zuma. The former SA president was sentenced to serve a 15-month term by refusing to abide by court orders, which in a way abetted corrupt officials during his tenure.