From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report.

Sashnee Moodley:

Johannesburg Water has showcased some of the various reservoirs and systems that supply the City of Johannesburg with water. The water utility also outlined the challenges in operating the systems that feed the economic hub with the critical resource. Natasha Odendaal has the story.

Natasha Odendaal:

Johannesburg Water abstracts 1.6-billion litres of potable water daily from Rand Water to supply Johannesburg through a water infrastructure network comprising 129 reservoirs and water towers.

The water utility recently hosted media on a tour of four critical reservoir and water tower complexes across Sandton, showcasing its infrastructure supplying the region, including Africa’s richest mile.

Johannesburg Water electromechanical manager Gugulethu Quma...

Natasha Odendaal:

The Sandton System recently experienced a major water outage for nearly two weeks following a lightning strike at a City Power substation, which caused the Eikenhof system to stop pumping.

Johannesburg Water electromechanical manager Gugulethu Quma…

Natasha Odendaal:

As Johannesburg Water battles aging infrastructure, rising demand amid a growing population and limited funds, the entity many fall short of the required investment for the future. However, the entity is managing with what it has and working towards closing the gap, including plugging the leaks.

Johannesburg Water electromechanical manager Gugulethu Quma…

Sashnee Moodley:

Solar power solutions company Sungrow has introduced a new three-phase battery/inverter system in South Africa suited to both residential and commercial/industrial applications. Darren Parker attended the launch in Johannesburg to find out more.

Darren Parker:

Sungrow’s new three-phase inverter and battery energy solution features several new inverter models and battery options to suit small- to medium-sized businesses and residential users alike.

For residential applications, the single phase inverters include a 6 kW and 10 kW option, while the new three phase inverters include a 15 kW, 20 kW and 25 kW option. For commercial and industrial applications, the company now also offers a 125 kWh string inverter.

Sungrow Middle East and Africa channel business director Ezzat Sankari…

IN  00:27 “We're here today because…”

OUT  01:30 “… productivity levels during grid outages.”

Darren Parker:

The estimated return on investment of these systems is three years, after which the savings accrued from lower grid power use would start to yield a profit.

Users can either run a single unit connected to alternating current load or string together up to eight inverters with 32 batteries, providing up to 200 kW total capacity.

Sungrow Middle East and Africa channel business director Ezzat Sankari…

Darren Parker:

The system features Sungrow’s patented Potential Induced Degradation Zero technology, which sends a negative feed to the solar panels at night, restoring them from degradation.

This technology helps to mitigate the effects of long exposure to high temperature, high humidity, and dust, which leads to unavoidable potential induced degradation in photovoltaic modules, causing a power generation loss of up to 30%.

Sungrow Middle East and Africa channel business director Ezzat Sankari…

Sashnee Moodley:

That’s Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa’s real economy. Don’t forget to listen to the audio version of our Engineering News daily email newsletter.