Rainwater Harvesting
It is now viable to harvest rainwater for your whole household. This includes rainwater harvesting, storing and pumping rainwater for bathing, showering, toilet flushing, pool, laundry and irrigation. Rainwater harvesting together with other Water Rhapsody products can save up to 90% of your water bill.
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Tag Archives: Saving Electricity
With Yes Solar your solar geyser will pay for itself!
“Last year I installed those solar panels in my house for the geyser, that energy-efficient kind. Today, I got a call from the contractor who installed it. He complained that the work had been completed a year ago and I still hadn’t paid for them. Hellooo … just because I’m blonde doesn’t mean that I am automatically stupid. So, I told him
Go Green in 4 Weeks!
Four weeks doesn’t sound like a long time, but by making small changes every day for a month you will be able to tackle the task of Going Green with ease. WEEK 1 Day 1: Start with you paper. While there are many household items you can recycle, start with a commonly used material. Recycling paper is easy because it does not require anything much else but sorting. Simply contact Mondy Paper Pick-up and find out more about their paper pickup scheme. Day 2: Bring your own bag. Elimination the need for plastic shopping bags is a great way to reduce waste and will save you money. There is no need to buy one of those reusable bags that the shops have for sale, as you probably have a suitable bag at home already. Day 3: Turn of the tap. Make sure that all your taps completely close every time you use them. Leaking taps waste litres and litres of water unnecessarily. Change your habits and don’t let taps run in the bathroom, while you are brushing your teeth, shaving or in the kitchen, when preparing food. Day 4: Eliminate paper/plastic cups from your life. Have your favourite coffee … Continue reading
Wind Power in South Africa
Kilian Hagemann, director at G7 Renewable Energies (one of SA’s leading large-scale wind farm developers), rates wind power as the leading technology available to meet South Africa’s renewable energy targets. “It’s the only technology that has really been successfully rolled out on a large scale worldwide and we have a wide variety of international projects to learn from to ensure a successful implementation in SA. According to Hagemann, South Africa can expect to see its first large-scale wind farms operating in late 2013 if the procurement process is concluded by the end of this year.” “We expect the SA market for wind-power to grow significantly over the next three years. I’ve had various meeting with role-players, including government officials, and it seems clear to me that the current SA administration is intent upon moving increasingly towards renewable as far as energy supply is concerned.” Applications for at least 88 wind farms have been received by the Eastern and Western Cape authorities and some of these wind farms are expected to have as many as 600 turbines located on them.
Securing energy needs
Everyone in the energy (petroleum) industry talks about security of supply. In the case of electricity security of supply, feedstock (mainly coal) for base-load power station is locally available, whereas in the petroleum industry analysts are concerned that almost 100% of crude is imported into SA. This is seen as a major risk to the country, considering that the bulk of crude imports are from Middle East. So when the Petroleum Agency of SA permits companies to investigate the availability of shale gas plans, this is the opportunity for SA to minimize the risk that experts talk about — of crude processed in South African refineries imported from the Middle East. One just needs to read the Energy Security Master Plan — Liquid Fuels that was published in August 2007 to see the government’s concerns about security of supply. The energy plan supports the promotion of local production of liquid fuels and recommends a policy of limited imports. In other words, companies search for crude, shale gas, natural gas, and mine more coal, etc. In the energy plan it is mentioned that in support of energy security and the balance of payments, there is a need for the maintenance of … Continue reading
Interesting Facts about Electricity
A spark of static electricity can measure up to three thousand (3,000) volts. A bolt of lightning can measure up to three million (3,000,000) volts – and it lasts less than one second! Electricity always tries to find the easiest path to the ground. Electricity can be made from wind, water, the sun and even animal manure. Burning coal is the most common way electricity is made in the United States. The first power plant – owned by Thomas Edison – opened in New York City in 1882. Thomas Edison invented more than 2,000 new products, including almost everything needed for us to use electricity in our homes: switches, fuses, sockets and meters. Benjamin Franklin didn’t discover electricity – but he did prove that lightning is a form of electrical energy. One power plant can produce enough electricity for 180,000 homes. Alternative Energy The bicycle is the most efficient form of transportation known. It uses five times less energy than walking. B.C.’s forest industry obtains 25% of its electricity from biomass — in this case, the waste material from their own industry. A system of distribution and transmission lines brings electricity to southern Manitoba through 70,000 km of lines. That’s … Continue reading
Posted in Energy Saving, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Solar Geysers, Solar Power, Solar Water Heating, Water Conservation, Water Tanks
Tagged Alternative Energy, going green, Saving Electricity, Solar geysers, Solar panels, Solar power, Static Elecrisity Spark, Wind Tubine, Wind Tunnels, Yes Solar
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Fascinating Facts about Energy
Science Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be converted from one form to another. Find an elastic band, and stretch it out. The stretched rubber band has potential energy. If you let it go, it moves and has kinetic energy. Have you ever wondered how you might get a hot air balloon to float up and down? How would you launch it? How would you get it back to earth? The balloon rises by warming up the air inside it. It descends by letting the air inside it cool down. It all works because of heat energy. Electricity travels at 300,000 km/sec. If you travelled that fast, you could travel around the world eight times in the time it takes to turn on a light switch. The energy produced by the atom-splitting of one kilogram of uranium is equivalent to the burning of 1.3 million kilograms of coal or 1.35 million litres of oil. People run on energy too, and food is our fuel. The unit we use to measure expended heat energy is the calorie. Calorie expenditures comparison: Lying at ease – 1.5 cal/min Tennis – 7 cal/min Playing drums – 4–6 cal/min Golfing – 6 … Continue reading
Posted in Energy Saving, Green, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Solar Power, Solar Water Heating, Water Tanks
Tagged Electricity, Energy, going green, Hot Air Balloon, Hydrogen Nuclei, Interesting Facts about Energy, Natural Resources, Saving Electricity, Saving water, Water tanks, Yes Solar
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Interesting Facts about Electricity
History The first windmills were developed in Persia in about 600 B.C. About 200 years ago, Alessandro Volta discovered that when two strips of different metals were put in a sulphuric acid solution and connected with a wire, electricity began to flow. Voila! The first electric battery was developed! Think of him the next time you pick up your battery-operated CD player or Game Boy. In 1879, just over 100 years ago, Thomas Edison invented the first light bulb. (Thomas Edison didn’t invent the first light bulb – but he did invent one that stayed lit for more than a few seconds. Think of the incredible changes it has brought to our current world! The first windmill to produce electricity was in Denmark in 1890. In the past, frightened sailors voyaging at night saw ghostly phantoms of bluish light dancing on the masts of ships. Called Saint Elmo’s fire, the light is actually a form of static electricity. In 1986, an accident at Chernobyl, USSR, sent radioactive material into the atmosphere and raised concerns about the production and storage of radioactive waste. What is a kilowatt hour? When we buy petrol, we’re charged per litre. When we buy electricity, we’re … Continue reading
Posted in Green, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Solar Water Heating, Water Tanks
Tagged Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs, Green Power, Interesting Facts about Electricity, Kilowatt Hour, Light bulbs, Natural Resources, Saving Electricity, Solar geysers, Solar power, Thomas Edison, Water Rhapsody, Yes Solar
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South Africa Solar Challenge
The South African Solar Challenge 2010 is an ambitious, two-week race in solar-powered cars throughout South Africa from the 20th September to the 2nd October. Teams are to build their own cars, design their own engineering systems and race those same machines through the most demanding terrain that solar cars have ever seen. The South Africa Solar Challenge promotes renewable energy technologies (specifically photo voltaic or “solar cells”), educational excellence in science, engineering and mathematics and creative integration of technical and scientific expertise across a wide-range of disciplines. The challenge is also a hands-on experience for students and engineers to develop and demonstrate their technical and creative abilities. Yes Solar were lucky to catch up with the Japanese team in Jeffrey’s Bay on the 29th of September. We were astonished by the speed of this little car and were told that it reached a top speed of 171km/h at one stage during the challenge. They however stay within the speed limit as this is one of the rules of the race. The race end in Pretoria at the Innovation HUB (Arriving from 10am to 5pm)
Posted in Solar Energy
Tagged Saving Electricity, Solar, Solar panels, Solar power, Yes Solar
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Ways to reduce your electricity bill Step three:
Get a geyser blanket The exact savings are hard to predict, but fitting a geyser blanket around your geyser and insulating your hot water pipes is recommended, says Palmer, as these prevent heat loss when the geyser is switched off. Geyser blankets range in price from R90 to R400 – only buy those that are SABS-approved, Eskom-endorsed and flameproof. DIY kits are available but it’s easiest to ask a plumber to install the blanket, at a cost of roughly R250–R450 per hour (it shouldn’t take longer than an hour). For more information, go to www.eskomdsm.co.za.
Posted in Energy Saving, Green, Solar Energy, Solar Geysers, Solar Power, Solar Water Heating, Water Tanks
Tagged Electricity price increase, Geyser Blanket, Reduce Electricity Bills, Saving Electricity, Solar geysers, Solar panels, Solar power, Solsquare, Water Conservation, Waterwise, Yes Solar
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Ways to reduce your electricity bill – Step Two:
Switch to gas Gas is used extensively for cooking and heating in other parts of the world, but here in SA, we have no pipeline gas, says Palmer. You will need to buy a Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) canister which fits your appliance. A refundable deposit is required for the ongoing use of the canister and you refill it at your nearest gas outlet (see www.totalgaz.co.za; www.afrox.co.za; www.easigas.co.za). Remember, as LPG is 100% derived from oil, its price fluctuates with the oil price. Says Terence of The Gas Experts (www.gasexperts.co.za ), you can purchase a good, safe four-burner gas hob for under R2 500. For a family of four living in a basic townhouse, a 9kg bottle of gas can last up to nine months, costing R200 a year to run the hob. A medium-sized gas water heater, retailing for R3200, will use a 48kg bottle of gas (costing R790) approximately every two and a half months. Installation of a gas stove and geyser will cost around R4500 (excluding the bottles). To keep warm, gas heaters and fireplaces are cost- and energy-efficient.
Posted in Energy Saving, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Solar Geysers
Tagged Eastern Cape, Gas, Saving Electricity, Solar, Solar geysers, Solar panels, Solsquare, Yes Solar
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