South Africa: Solar Traffic Lights to Ease Congestion
BuaNews (Tshwane), Johannesburg, 23 January 2008
Source: AllAfrica.com
http://allafrica.com/stories/200801230529.html
The Central Energy Fund has announced a massive drive to install solar-powered traffic lights at critical intersections in cities, to ease traffic congestion caused by load shedding. Mputumi Damane, Chief Executive Officer of the Central Energy Fund (CEF) Group of Companies said this was an urgent intervention to help alleviate the chaos on the roads which come as a result of load shedding and traffic lights going off. “Whenever there is load-shedding, it impacts negatively on the economy of our country,” said Mr Damane.
In October last year, the City of Cape Town said traffic lights in that city were to be powered with solar energy to avoid the risk of them being affected by power cuts. A plan was set to produce a wireless system which could operate independently from the national grid. Now, more than 2 000 critical traffic intersections have already been identified in Johannesburg. Areas like Sandton, which have been hit hard by the power cuts and the notorious Grayston-Rivonia intersection, will be the first to be adapted to solar power.
The installation process is expected to begin in the next few weeks as some components needed will be imported and assessments will be carried out on intersections individually. Mr Damane said other cities earmarked for solar powered traffic lights were eThekwini, Tshwane, Port Elizabeth and Nelspruit. In the past few days, about R40 million has been committed to the project in principle by public and private sector stakeholders.
Mr Damane said these were challenging times for all role-players in the energy sector. He said his company has been uplifted by the support of government, business and the general public for this intervention. “The funds available for this project could rise to more than R100 million because of this incredible upsurge of support. “Pledges of major funding are flowing in and a number of agreements are being finalised with key private sector institutions who we will name in due course and once the formalities have been concluded,” said Mr Damane.
The project will be managed by the National Energy Efficiency Agency (NEEA), a division of CEF, and will draw on the highly successful three month pilot scheme in Montagu’s Gift, Cape Town. Barry Bredenkamp, acting Operations Manager for the NEEA said currently, commuters were at breaking point. “Fitting traffic lights to run on solar power is probably the best solution we have to solving the current traffic crisis.
“The test site confirmed that the technology is capable of running the lights on sun power and, crucially, without mishap,” said Mr Bredenkamp. “Quantified in monetary terms, productivity losses, accidents at uncontrolled intersections, and exhaust emissions from stationary motor vehicles all have an adverse effect on the economy,” added Mr Bredenkamp.
Cape Town has been switching from using conventional bulbs in traffic lights to low voltage, low-maintenance components, particularly the light-emitting diodes (LEDs). This is while the solar-powered system is being implemented. In February last year, when each of the city’s 1 300 traffic light-controlled intersections was reduced to a four-way stop, causing financial losses to the city’s transport-driven economy.
This is what has spurred the city to action. “The City of Cape Town had long been aware of the need to conserve traffic-light electricity in general and to keep them operational during major power failures. “Those blackouts provided further incentive to our search for solutions,” Councillor Elizabeth Thompson, Mayoral Committee Member for Transport, Roads and Stormwater said at the time. Companies wishing to become involved in the project should email their details to info@savingenergy.co.za, and they will be contacted by the NEEA.