The pay system helps save life

South African Mark Madley believes that the installation of the domestic solar system has allowed to preserve its 81-year-old mother.

Last year, she spent three weeks in intense therapy, and now returned home to Benoni, east of Johannesburg, she needed an oxygen hub to help her breathe.

But the country’s wrong power supply meant that one could not hope.

“There were days when we would be without power for six hours. I had to use a car battery to launch its oxygen tank, but it didn’t last long and you would have to sit with her arms raised to try to get oxygen in the lungs,” Mr. Moodley BBC tells.

“Sometimes we had to rush to the hospital when it didn’t work. It was scary.”

Then the doctors told the family that it may not have to live long. But the sustainable power supply gave them more time together.

“It was a savior. I do not need to constantly check it overnight. I know that her oxygen tank has the power, no matter what,” he says, a voice.

Despite recent improvements to South Africa, there are still shutdown.

The presence of permanent nutrition has become a privilege in the country, which survived almost 15 years of “loading” – planned nationwide shutdowns, imposed to alleviate pressure on the weak infrastructure.

In addition to threatening some life, the crisis has damaged economic growth and contributed to the loss of work.

South Africa depends heavily on the strong coal pollution at its power – it accounts for about 80% of all electricity. But in recent years, it has weakened restrictions on small solar generation and created tax benefits for installation.

The country is also looking for more investment in renewable energy to help switch from coal.

Internally, those who have financial resources gradually output their homes and enterprises outside the network, investing in solar energy systems that require an initial cost of $ 14,000-19 600 (£ 10,400-14 500).

This price tag means that this option is far from available to most South Africans. Those who scatter can not use the country’s sunlight and invest in pure, reliable energy.

But Mr. Moodley was able to refer to the pay scheme that supported the light and the medical equipment works.

His electricity bill fell by $ 80 a week – savings he hoped to use to expand what he has, and eventually go out completely without a network.

The system it uses comes from a local startup founded in 2019

For domestic users, the most basic package costs $ 60 a month – and the main thing is that there is no unprofitable previous payment – making solar energy more affordable.

The company states that it has determined the gap on the market – available solar solutions, taking into account small business and households with low income.

“South Africa has traditionally been highly accessed to electricity – but access to nothing means if the power is not reliable and accessible,” says Vincent Mapas, the founder of the company and a former energy analyst.

“We had to develop products that are suitable for purpose and financially available.”

While solar energy is not new in South Africa, the Wetality Business Mount includes a monthly payment plan for mobile phones, allowing customers to spread the cost.

Over the years, the loading of the load has been used as an attempt at the last ditch to avoid the national network from complete collapse after decades of mismanagement on the state communal Eskom.

While the darkens have decreased for some urban centers, poor communities and business people continue to suffer forced cuts, as the old infrastructure is fighting for increasing demand.

For some cities, care of theft and practicality also held back people from getting sunny equipment, but humidity also developed light, flexible panels that can be installed on delicate roofs common in many of these areas.

“We came up with a thin film panel that sticks to the roof. When someone tries to clear it, it’s tears and becomes unreasonable. It was important for areas where the theft causes care,” says Mr. Maposa.

“In terms of efficiency, they act as well as traditional panels.”

The energy unit, including the inverter that transforms the power formed by the panels into useful electricity, and the battery that works when the sun does not shine, is fixed in a large steel box weighing about 300 kg, which is twisted on the wall.

The team says it reduces the risk of theft and avoids attracting attention in high crime areas.

Recently, Yuliy Cubesen’s shopkeeper made a transition to Solar, which may have saved his small grocery store.

In a gray hat of a hat and a thick blue jacket, to avoid colds in the winter hemisphere, it warehouses in a brightly lit refrigerator, remembering how frequent cutting of force almost destroyed its livelihood.

“The meat will go away, dairy will ruin. Sometimes we would be without force for four days,” says a 43-year-old guy.

But since March, his store in Krugersdope, west of Johannesburg, has been using a solar electricity system to maintain light and refrigerators.

Some small business owners have resorted to reserve diesel generators, but Mr. Koobetseng, which has been engaged in the store over the last 13 years, was attracted to a more environmentally friendly option.

“The decline in electricity has greatly influenced the small business. I know a lot in this area that were to close because they could not keep up with uncertainty,” he says.

“We live a month a month, depending on what brings business. If you can’t guarantee power as you even plan for the future?”

Now he is not worried when the authorities are coming out, which is a “great relief”.

It costs his business of $ 250 a month, but the business r -No has raised his reliable power.

“People know that my shop remains open even when the power goes out. Some just charge their appliances, but as long as they buy things here,” he says with a smile.

For him, the benefit is not to reduce electricity accounts. This is a sequence.

“The sun has given me my back control. I can plan my day knowing that I have strength.”