A few backup lights and a small battery-inverter system that can last for the typical duration of load-shedding are the backup power solutions Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter uses at home. The CEO recently spoke to MyBroadband about his personal views and experience of load-shedding as a South African citizen.
De Ruyter said that South Africans had every right to be angry about load-shedding, as it was a failure to fully deliver on a promise to provide a reliable electricity supply for more than thirteen years.
“It is now common cause that load-shedding occurred as a consequence of some of the poor decisions this company and country have made over the years,” De Ruyter said.
“It will take years to correct the problems caused by poor maintenance and repairing the design defects of the new power stations and to fully recover the performance of the generation fleet.”
De Ruyter said his family and those of the Eskom management team had been negatively affected by load-shedding, just like every South African household.
“Consequently, we had to make some investments in backup lights and have changed the way we work to adapt to this reality,” he stated.
While he didn’t state exactly which types of backup lights, several bulbs fitted with small batteries to charge when power is available and emit light during load-shedding are available in South Africa.
De Ruyter said in addition to the backup lights, he also installed a small inverter and batteries to power a few lights, the Wi-Fi, and the TV.
“This is enough to last us for the two and a half hours of load-shedding,” he stated. The solution used by De Ruyter can be comprised of a wide variety of components and custom configurations.
One popular user-friendly implementation is the power trolley, which combines an inverter and batteries in a portable design.
Two major power trolley manufacturers in South Africa are Ellies and Mecer.
We also asked De Ruyter for his own recommendations on backup power solutions to survive load-shedding.
The CEO said that an inverter with batteries was a relatively affordable system for backup.
He advised against larger grid-tied solar systems used to reduce electricity consumption even when there is no load-shedding. Compared to Eskom’s domestic tariff, such installations don’t make much financial sense,” he stated.
De Ruyter also said he was not a fan of generators, as they tended to be noisy and emitted hazardous carbon monoxide.
In other news – DJ Qness dragged to court for stealing
The South African Amapiano Awards (SAAPA) have got a lot of attention on social media recently with many anticipating the award show, but it seems that there is drama behind the scenes as a different organisation has claimed the founder, DJ Qness, stole the concept for the show.
The legal representatives of the Amapiano Awards — not to be confused with the South African Amapiano Awards — have sent a cease and desist letter to DJ Qness to not go ahead with the much-anticipated award ceremony as they allege that he stole the concept from their client. Learn more
Source: mybroadband
