The ever-increasing prices and unreliability of Eskom have pushed South Africans to make alternative plans to provide themselves with much-needed electricity.
Chris Watson, who owns a farm in Kersfontein in Piket Bo-Berg, is one example of a local resident who had to take the initiative to supply his own electricity needs due to the ongoing crisis.
Watson installed a hydro-turbine on his farm, which has been running successfully for four months. This is a device that turns water into mechanical energy. According to Watson, installing a hydro-turbine is something he had been thinking about for a while and waited for the technology to become available, to integrate with his home and solar system.
He said: “I took this decision mainly due to Eskom letting us all down and not being able to produce the amount of electricity that one needs, not to mention the [rising] cost of the power utility’s electricity. It was just getting more and more expensive.”
Paying a monthly fee of about R2 800, Watson said he had noticed a big difference in his electricity bill.
Watson explained the process of turning water into mechanical energy, in this instance a small dam up on the kloof collects a lot of water during winter, which is then channelled through a pipe into the hydro-turbine, which in turn produces AC power. This is converted to DC, which powers the inverter powering the system.
Watson encourages others to use a hydro-turbine for, over time, it will save costs and be more reliable. “It is also very good for the environment and the carbon footprint is excellent. I would encourage everybody to do it.”
