In line with global trends, South Africa’s domestic water heating market is moving away from traditional water heating methods, such as conventional geysers, towards more energy-efficient measures, namely solar water heater.
Such a development may be due to the fact that domestic water heating accounts for approximately 40% of a household’s electricity bill. 18% of South Africa’s national electricity consumption is allocated toward the heating of water, for residential, commercial, and industrial use.
“Eskom’s load-shedding power crisis of 2007-2008 resulted in a raised awareness of solar water heating as the general public demanded hot water during times of load-shedding, and Eskom advocated the saving benefits that this mechanism could provide,” says Dominic Goncalves, Frost & Sullivan’s Energy and Power Research Analyst.
Eskom subsequently developed a demand-side management program, propagating solar water heater as a prime mechanism to conserve energy off the strained national grid. The Eskom Rebate Program was established, and a target set for the installation of one million solar water heaters by 2014. “The rationale was that such demand-side management could relieve up to 578 gigawatt hours of electricity from the grid, the equivalent of building a 2,000 megawatt power station,” explains Goncalves.
Author: Zhejiang Haining Tiange Solar Energy Science Technology Co., Ltd.
website: www.sunnyrainsolar.com
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