| Solar-powered robots planned |
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| Written by Millicent Kgowedi | |
| Tuesday, 29 January 2008 | |
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Solar-powered traffic lights will soon help to keep traffic flowing smoothly, even when there are power cuts. 
The Central Energy Fund is looking into solar-powered traffic lights
THE bumper-to-bumper gridlock at intersections around the city - caused when traffic lights go down because of continuous load shedding - will be a thing of the past when solar-powered traffic lights are installed. The state-owned Central Energy Fund (CEF), which is behind the plan, has announced a massive, countrywide drive to install solar-powered traffic lights at critical intersections in major cities to try to deal with the uncontrollable traffic jams that have characterised the regular power outages. Together with the City, its roads agency and other role players, it has identified more than 2 000 such intersections in Joburg; key areas in the north include Grayston Drive and Rivonia Road in Sandton. On an average day, the busy suburb has two power cuts, causing major traffic problems. "We are working very closely with the JRA [Johannesburg Roads Agency]. It is responsible for helping the CEF select intersections where installations will take place," said the acting operations manager at the National Energy Efficiency Agency (NEEA), Barry Bredenkamp. He added that in the long run, the JRA would maintain the installation project. "It’s an effort by the CEF but ultimately it will be maintained by the JRA." Installation of solar-powered traffic lights is expected to start at the end of February. However, this depends on the delivery of specific imported components. These are usually shipped in but given the urgency of the problem, the first few hundred will be flown into South Africa. Sites for solar-powered traffic lights have also been identified in eThekwini, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Nelspruit. "This is an urgent intervention to help alleviate the chaos on our roads which results from power outages and which is impacting negatively on the economy of our country," said Mputumi Damane, the chief executive of the CEF group of companies. Public and private sector stakeholders have already committed R40-million to the project and the CEF believes that funds made available could rise to more than R100-million. It will be managed by the NEEA, a division of the CEF, and will take into account lessons learned from a pilot project that has been running in Cape Town since September 2007. Bredenkamp said the project was about alleviating the energy crisis in a broader context. "Traffic congestion leads to unnecessary use of petroleum, which in itself is becoming a scarce and expensive form of energy. Productivity losses, injuries as a result of … accidents at uncontrolled intersections, exhaust emissions from stationary motor vehicles, when quantified in monetary terms, all have a major adverse effect on the overall economy." The solar-powered traffic lights would be connected to the national power grid in case the city experienced weeks of rainfall and little sunlight, he explained. "The connection to the national power grid is our last option, though, because the solar power batteries are large and can last for a [long] period. The batteries will charged during the day and the power required at night will be available because of the battery capacity." The CEF group of companies includes PetroSA, the South African Gas Development Company, iGas, Petroleum Agency SA, Oil Pollution Control SA, the Strategic Fuel Fund Association, African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation, and the South African National Energy Research Institute. Companies wishing to become involved in the project should email their details to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ; they will be contacted by the NEEA.
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