South Africa has been having points with electrical energy provide for fairly some time now. This has compelled Eskom, the nationwide energy utility firm, to implement load-shedding. The residential sector accounts for about 35% of electrical energy demand in peak hours in South Africa.
Identical to in most elements of Southern Africa, water heating is usually achieved by means of electrical resistive heating components in boilers, popularly referred to as geysers. These geysers are often within the type of cylindrical metallic tanks housing about 200 liters of water. Water heating accounts for about 40% of most houses’ electrical energy invoice. Growing the adoption of photo voltaic water heating in sizzling and sunny South Africa is likely one of the essential pathways to assist ease strain on the grid and likewise save electrical energy prices for customers over time. These photo voltaic sizzling water heaters are often positioned on the roofs of the houses.
To incentivize the adoption of photo voltaic water heaters and scale back strain on the grid, in 2008, Eskom initiated a rebate program to encourage houses to modify to photo voltaic water heaters. Within the “Overview of South Africa’s Photo voltaic Water Heating Rebate Programme” paper, Theo Covary and Karin Kritzinger say that this system initially focused 925,000 photo voltaic sizzling water installations by 2013. Eskom’s COP 17 factsheet on the photo voltaic water heating rebate program says that, “Greater than 38,000 excessive strain and 84,000 low strain methods had been rolled out nationally by finish of 2011. This resulted in power financial savings of roughly 60GWh/annum. This system additionally had optimistic results on employment creation. South Africa’s photo voltaic water heating market expanded from a mere 20 suppliers in 1997 to greater than 400 suppliers in 2011.” This progress demonstrated preliminary success within the implementation of the undertaking. 60,000 MWh/annum is sort of vital. Nevertheless, South Africa’s grid is usually coal-powered, due to this fact for each GWh saved, 0.99kt of CO2 is averted, leading to a saving of about 60kt of CO2 each year.
Eskom’s reality sheet additionally says that 156,000 claims for the rebate had been acquired for methods put in as of the top of September 2011. Within the rebate program, reductions different in line with the dimensions of the photo voltaic sizzling water heating system put in and its related electricity-saving potential. The rebates ranged from R3,280 as much as R8,964 ($440 to $1,200 utilizing the trade fee on the time) relying on the system bought. The price of the photo voltaic water heating methods ranged from R7,000 to R35,000 ($940 to $4,670 based mostly on the trade fee at the moment) relying on the dimensions, sort, and whether or not they had been imported or domestically manufactured.
The IEA summarizes fairly properly how the rebate program labored and the way it was funded. “The programme was funded by a tariff levied on client electrical energy payments by NERSA (Nationwide Vitality Regulator of South Africa). Eskom managed the programme by means of enter from a broad vary of stakeholders, together with native trade, authorities, NERSA and the Division of Minerals and Vitality (DME). Photo voltaic water heater purchasers acquired a direct rebate, after submitting a declare for the rebate to Eskom’s auditors.”
Nevertheless, Theo Covary and Karin Kritzinger’s paper notes that by 2015, after 7 years, solely 102,498 excessive strain photo voltaic water heater methods, 11% of the unique goal, had been put in. This system had been suspended by 2016. Regardless of the unique goal not being met, 102,498 items remains to be fairly vital. Maintain that 102,498 determine in thoughts, as we are going to come again to it in a while on this article.
Maybe the rebate program might be re-looked at in mild of the continued load-shedding in South Africa. Adapting the rebate scheme for residential battery storage methods may assist ease among the load-shedding. Eskom’s load-shedding program is structured in levels, the place Eskom sheds a sure quantum of load from the grid to stabilize the grid. So, relying on the severity of the disaster, load-shedding is applied in levels from Stage 1 to Stage 8, the place Stage 1 sheds 1000 MW of load from the grid and in a Stage 8 state of affairs, Eskom takes out 8,000 MW of load from the grid. Load-shedding is applied over 2-hour or 4-hour blocks on a rotational foundation relying on the severity of the crises. Stage 8, nonetheless, means most customers will expertise a blackout for about 12 hours.
To get a very good image of how highly effective the aggregation of residential battery storage methods might be, we are able to take a look at what occurred in California final week. As Zachary Shahan mentioned in his article: “S&P International notes that California had roughly 884 megawatts (MW) of energy capability in place from small-scale battery methods initially of August. That’s positioned at roughly 77,000 houses and companies, and it dietary supplements ~4,000 MW of utility-scale battery storage capability. It’s additionally an ideal instance of how a variety of little actions can add as much as an enormous impact.“
Now do not forget that variety of excessive strain photo voltaic sizzling water methods put in in South Africa underneath the rebate program was 102,498? That’s 25,498 greater than the 77,000 houses and companies that probably contributed 884 MW of energy capability in California final week for some time when the grid was burdened. The main residential photo voltaic dwelling photo voltaic and battery storage firm within the US, Sunrun, dispatched 18,000 residential battery storage methods each day to assist handle the strain. Native photo voltaic corporations may assist play the same position in South Africa. We may probably see related development in employment alternatives, simply because the photo voltaic water heating rebate program helped develop the variety of gamers available in the market.
The 884 MW in California is nearly sufficient to assist to some extent with Stage 1 load-shedding in South Africa. Let’s say we take the rebate of as much as $1,200 for the $4,670 excessive strain photo voltaic water heater, that’s a rebate of as much as 26%. Now if Eskom, NERSA, and the Division of Minerals and Vitality may give you a workable rebate providing as much as 26% or related on residential battery storage, it may supercharge dwelling battery installations in South Africa to a stage the place these aggregated dwelling batteries may assist relieve the strain for some levels of load-shedding within the very close to future. The report from S&P International notes that California barely had about 200 MW of battery capability to name on simply two years in the past, displaying that these dwelling battery installations may very well be ramped up fairly rapidly. These battery storage methods are additionally good for houses and flats that will not have sufficient house for rooftop photo voltaic, permitting extra individuals throughout the nation to get entry to dwelling battery methods.
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