Leading Solar Technologies PDF Print E-mail
altAs you can imagine, South Africa is not a leader in these technologies. Renewable energies became topical when the Eskom lights went out a few years ago. However, there are a few Australian, American and especially European companies who lead in this field. In Germany, solar systems gained popularity in the 1960’s. They also soon realised that because they have rain, snow and severe winters to contend with, they cannot rely on this technology alone. To back their solar systems up with electric elements was definitely not the answer. They then went far deeper into the renewable field and perfected additional technologies such as heat pumps to back up their solar systems. Further on in this article, heat pumps will be described. This combination of solar and heat pumps has been the answer for all Nordic Countries for at least 40 years. Whereas the solar system extracts heat from the sun rays directly, heat pumps extract their heat from the surrounding air that the sun has heated. That is where the term “solar heat pumps”, originates.                                       
Having read the above, you might think that Germany’s conditions don’t apply to South Africa. Strangely however, the North of Germany, (Hamburg and above) has the same amount of sunshine per year as the figures given by the CSIR for the Southern Cape. 

Now we come to the most interesting part of solar, see; "Overcapitilising your hot water system"