Standing still while waiting for it to be fixed won’t change the impact that this issue has on our life
Time to take action! What are the solutions that can be implemented to fight back the load shedding in our household.

1. A backup battery
A backup battery also known as UPS Power Supply is a device that simply when there is electricity collects enough power to supply electricity once the main power source is unavailable.
This device can be found in different sizes depending on your needs and the capacity of appliances you would like to connect to it.

2. Rechargeable light bulbs
Also known as the emergency rechargeable LED, the device weight is named.
They work like regular bulbs once connected to a socket, if there’s the electricity they will recharge while the switch is on, and once the power cuts, they will stay on using the energy collected on their rechargeable battery.

3. A UPS for your router
Although having a backup battery will help you to have the power to supply your computer and other devices in your house, they won’t do you much good if you want to use them to access the internet.
A UPS is a device that supplies backup power for your WIFI routers and security cameras such as CCTV cameras.

4. Surge protection plugs
Sometimes when the main source of power is back, it can come with a higher voltage of electricity than usual, a surge protector is a device that protects your appliances against a high voltage by redirecting the excess power to a grounding power.

5. Solar power bank
Great for quick power supply, solar power banks are small external batteries that are chargeable with solar energy, the device allows you to charge small devices such as your phone without having to connect to an outlet.

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Besides considering installing solar power, a Power generator is also a solution.

A power generator is simply a device or machine capable of producing electricity.

There are 7 types of generators you can use for your home.

The main use and know generator is the standby generator also known as the “Whole house” which is a type of generator that can be connected to your entire house or business electrical system and they are a stationary fixture.

Some of them have the feature to switch on automatically when they sense a power outage and will continue to run until the power comes back on (You can switch it off manually or it will be automatically once the power is back).

The other types of generators are gasoline generators, diesel generators, solar generators, natural gas generators, inventor generators, and portable generators.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a power generator?

1. Advantages

• It plays the role of backup power for your home.
• Provide electricity in case of a power outage or any natural disaster or other emergencies.
• A generator can work without any form of wiring installation, you simply need to turn off the mains, start the generator, and plug it into any socket.
• Power generators can either be run either on natural gas or petrol
• A power generator can run for a long time.

2. Disadvantages

• A power generator can sometimes require frequent maintenance depending on how you use it.
• Power generators can be super noisy.
• They harm the ecosystem due to the highly emitting toxic gases that affect the health of humans, animals, and even plants.

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It usually interrupts by the electricity supplier of the country.

Many causes can lead to a power outage such as weather conditions or natural disasters, equipment failure, human error, Wildlife interference/even animal interference, High energy demand, planned power outages, and cyberattacks.

How to get ready for a power outage?

During a power outage, the main concern and preoccupation is the safety of everyone in the house.

1. Purchase flashlights that work with batteries and make sure they are fully charged and allocated in strategic places in your house.
2. Have candles and matches available and ready to use – Make sure they are in a safe area far from flammable objects.
3. Have a first aid kit available in an accessible location of your household.
4. Turn off all the electrical appliances or equipment of your household.
5. Leave one light on, it will allow you to know when the electricity is back.
6. Purchase a food thermometer as it will help you to indicate the temperatures of your refrigerator/ freezer to determine if the food is safe.
7. Do a stock of non-perishable food and water.
8. Purchase a power bank to be able to charge your phone during a power outage.

What can be impacted during a power outage

1. No network – You might experience an unstable network or no network at all.
2. No light
3. An unexpected interruption can affect the electrical equipment/ appliance of your household.
4. ATMs – Make sure to always have some cash around you
5. Grocery store – It’s advisable to always keep a stock of food available at home.

In conclusion, A power outage is not a joke, it’s something that needs to be taken with a lot of consideration, to the homeowner it can mean more than just being deprived of electricity for a certain period. It can lead to the ruin of perishable food or also having burst pipes, which can lead to water damage.

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Solar panels also known as photovoltaic panels are used to convert the energy created from the sun into electricity that eventually can be used to power electrical loads.

How does it work?

Simply, the solar panels are composed of photovoltaic cells (PV cells), so when the energy coming from the sun is in contact with the solar panel, the PV cells collected that energy and transform it into electrical charges which are collected by the electrical fields install inside the panel, causing the electricity to flow.

Advantages of using solar panels

1. Drastically reduce or eliminate your electricity bills

By using natural energy, you are reducing or eliminating the use of electricity provided by your utility.

2. Renewable source of energy

Because solar energy is dependent on the sun’s energy. It’s considered to be a source of renewable energy, which implies that unlike other sources of energy, with solar energy you cannot run out of electricity.

3. Cheaper to maintain

Even though they seem too pricey to install, they are cheaper to maintain as they don’t require to be constantly clean.

4. Contribution to a healthy ecosystem

As solar panels collect pure energy from the sun, investing in solar panels helps to contribute to the positive ecosystem (Essentially this means that solar panels are environmentally friendly products and will not harm the planet). It helps to fight the emissions of greenhouse gas and slowly reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

5. Ability to store the power collected for later

Solar panels usually are installed with solar batteries that help you to store the power generated during a certain time and to use it later on.

Disadvantages of using solar panels

   1. Costly

Yes, buying solar panels seems to be expensive due to the different materials that need to be installed with them. Because it’s an energy that is still developing and promising a bright future, the price will decrease in the nearest future.

2. Not fully reliable/ Weather dependent

Because solar panels are dependable on sunshine, the weather plays a big role in their functionality. So basically, the solar panel requires sunny weather to be functional.

3. Installation area

When it comes to the installation of solar panels, the available space or area is really important and needs to be considered a priority, solar panels are in terms of size really large products and due to the different materials and sizes that need to be installed with it, the available space is really important.

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If not taken with precautions, it can take your life.

The basic guidelines listed below will help you while working with electricity in your household or workplace.

1. Make sure that your body is dry

Well, we all know water is a powerful but unstable conductor of electricity.

Creating a connection between them or just mixing them can lead to an electric shock.

When planning to work with electricity or just be in contact with it for example when you want to charge your phone by connecting your charger to a socket, you must make sure that your entire body is dry and specifically your hands.

2.  Make sure to use proper equipment.

Always make sure to only use insulated equipment when planning to work or being in contact with electricity. For example, make sure to always use insulated rubber gloves when you want to hold any conductor of electricity such as cables. Use only tools and equipment with non-conducting handles when working on electrical devices.

3. Make sure the main switchboard of electricity is turned off.

Remember nobody can predict what can happen, this applies also to electricity. When working with electricity by for example fixing an appliance, a mistake can happen and a discharge of electricity can affect you. So before working with electricity in your household, make sure to first turn off the main switchboard or just the interrupter.

For example, when you want to change an ampoule electric, make sure to simply switch off the interrupter or to be more careful the main switchboard.

4. Never use damaged equipment.

Always check your equipment quality and also the different cables and electric elements that conduct the electricity in your household. Make sure to avoid broken equipment, frayed cords, or event broken plugs.

5. Never make use of steel or aluminum ladders.

When you want to work with electricity, you always have to make sure to remove any element that can cause you to get electrocuted. Steel and aluminum are really good conductors of electricity, and due to that, you can simply get electrocuted and die. So instead of making use of steel or aluminum ladders make use of wooden or fiberglass ladders for complete safety.

In conclusion,

We are enough safe; a safe household or work environment is not always enough to predict a potential electrical hazard. So, every time you are working with electricity always be cautious and practice every step safely. Constant safety must be considered and mustn’t be compromised in any situation at your workplace or in your household.

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The best way to save electricity is to first understand how you are spending your electricity. Of course, we cannot guess how it’s spent in your household but we can help you in saving during this season by providing some saving electricity tips.

1. Make full use of natural light

Make use of natural lights during the day, a single southwest-facing window can light up more than 20 times its area, and by turning off unnecessary lights, you can see a large improvement in your electricity usage.

2. Use table lamps

You can also reduce your electricity usage by turning off different ceiling lighting and making use of table lamps ( which are energy efficient ), in different places of your house such as your office, working section, living room, and kitchen. You can also use a motion sensor for interior lighting.

3. Manage your house temperature

Surprisingly enough, during winter  an electric heater consumes more energy than other devices in the house . Manage the temperature of your house by only using the heater in rooms that are occupied.

4. Wash your laundry with cold water

Yes! You can wash your laundry by switching from hot water to cold water. This will allows you to save hot water for only important use such as showering and cooking.

5. Make use of a kettle

The stove uses more electricity than the kettle, so it’s more efficient to boil your water by using a kettle than a stove, do not overfill your kettle when boiling, use only as much as it’s required.

6. Switch off your stove when not in use

Always make sure to switch off your stove when you don’t use it, replace damaged stove plates regularly, as when it’s not in good quality, they tend to require more heat, and also make use of your stove only when cooking multiple dishes at a time. Always match the size of the pot with the size of your stove’s plates.

7. Be efficient with refrigerating

Ensure the fridge doors is close, Also ensuring that the door seal is of good quality.  Do not let the fridge open while doing other things, and also make sure to not put hot liquid or solid element in the fridge.

8. Unplug your unused appliances

Make sure to unplug unused electronics devices as standby power can account for more than 6% of your average household’s annual electricity use. Make sure to unplug appliances such as televisions, iron, and kettle.

9. Shift to the solar system

It might be difficult to convert the entire house into a solar system but certain things can be plugged into a small solar system in order to reduce the electricity usage. For example, you can change to an outdoor solar lights system, device solar chargers, and also by using a solar system for small appliances.

10. Manage your geyser

Switch your geyser off, if unused or if you leave on holiday. You can also install a timer in order to control the operational times of your geyser, which can increase up to 15% in electricity saving.

In Conclusion,

It’s advisable for everyone to reduce their energy bills in order to adapt and not get impacted by the semestrial tariff increase of this year. By carefully following the tips listed above you can easily reduce up to 25% in electricity bills.

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Since the beginning of the fall season in South Africa, Eskom has implemented the load-shedding festival due to the different incident that has been happening during the past few weeks, such as:

1. The sabotage of the cable stations

Since 2021 Eskom has been facing sabotage of its cables in different places within the country, the most recent occurred in Mpumalanga at the Hendrina station. Investigations have been conducted but with no concrete  outcome; and these sabotages cause instability in Eskom to provide electricity.

2. The continued shortage of generation capacity

Probably the primordial cause of the load-shedding in South Africa is the shortage of generation capacity, due to the different power stations not working and Eskom is unable to provide enough capacity.

Eskom provided an estimated value of 4,000 – 6,000 MW of additional capacity needed to properly maintain its power stations.  Another 14,500 megawatts of capacity is currently unavailable due to the multiple breakdowns of the generation.

3. The coal quality

The quality of coal plays an important role in the generation of electricity in the different power stations. For quite a few years now, there is an ongoing issue with the quality of coal provided by several syndicates and other suppliers, such as “Exxaro and Seriti” which are the largest suppliers of coal to Eskom, by roughly providing 80% of coal/year to Eskom.

According to the expert Chris Yelland, suppliers are unable to keep up with the expected quality of coal requested due to the constant demand that keeps on increasing. The bad quality of coal, impacted the production as workers have to manually remove ash and other elements in the units stuck in the pipework, which cause delays and affects the different stations.

4. The Inadequate level of skills and inadequate availability of skills

One of the biggest challenges that South Africa is facing is a lack of skills, and Eskom has also been impacted by the wave, as there are challenges with a lack of engineering and technical skills and experience in the industry. According to Pravin Gordhan, In order to solve the issue, Eskom has launched a training program to upgrade the skills and abilities of its workers.

In conclusion,

With the demand that keeps on increasing, it’s now challenging to constantly supply enough electricity to the entire country. In order to match the demand, Eskom has no order choice but to reimplement the load-shedding period with different stages based on the current events and demand in the market. With the fall season that has started, we might face a long period in the dark as demand tends to increase. It’s not yet clear when the issues will be fixed and also when load-shedding will be definitely suspended, but according to the Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha, Eskom’s users can help the entity in reducing stages but reducing electricity usage, which can potentially help in suspending the load-shedding.

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In a show to the National Energy Regulatory of South Africa (NERSA), the power utility said the increment was incompletely being driven by buys from free power markers international Power Products (IPPs) and carbon charges – two costs which are outside of Eskom’s immediate control. These two costs alone make up around 13,8% of the mentioned increment, it said.

The gathering has likewise shown that it depends to request a further 15,07% increment in 2024 and a 10% increment in 2025. In any case, this will rely upon the genuine increment that NERSA awards Eskom this year with the controller seldom giving the power utility the full increment that is requested.

On 5 March 2021, NERSA supported a climb of 15,06% for Eskom’s immediate clients, which was accordingly carried out on 1 April 2021. A climb of 17,80% for districts was carried out on 1 July 2021. Far beyond the mentioned levy increment, Eskom said it is as yet reliant upon additional value support given by the public authority to stay a going concern.

It added that each work is being made to track down additional efficiencies inside the business, to address defilement and extortion, and to make advances into tending to city and other obligation. Eskom added that the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic and the related lockdown limitations in South Africa have had extensive outcomes and added significant descending force to a generally compromised economy.

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Prepaid electricity in the main, is quite a good concept to look into if you are still running a post paid system and are struggling with exorbitant monthly fees and costs. If you are controlling your energy spend with the post paid method, then this is in order however it can easily become a costly expense. Prepaid electricity too, are not without it’s errors and issues and below we will discuss some very common errors you will come across some time or the other with your prepaid electricity set-up:

Error Messages: 

1. SAD face – probably means it is just finger trouble in typing the token number – please retry
2. DDDD –  Duplicated token. The token has probably been entered already, causing this error. Please double check.
3. Error 30 – Technical error on your meter. To try and troubleshoot this error, please switch off your meter, as well as your electricity mains and give it a few minutes. Afterwards, turn back on your mains and meter back on and retry your token. If the error 30 persists, please contact your municipality and get a technician to come out and have a look at the meter.

Meter Blocked? – It does occur that a meter is blocked by a municipality’s credit control. This means that the municipality prevents your meter from making a prepaid purchase until the block is lifted. To have this lifted the client needs to sort this out with the municipality.

While we are on the subject, also important to note that any outstanding fees on your utility bill that is deemed to be in arrears, can be deducted from your prepaid electricity purchase. If this takes place, it is wise to contact the municipality to resolve this.

For more information please visit: https://straton.co.za/pre-paid/about/prepaid-meter-error-codes/

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South Africans have again been cautioned to become acclimated to control power outages for essentially the following 5 years.

The force utility executed stage two burden shedding as it battles to recuperate from various breakdowns.

Energy expert Ted Blom blames Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter: Eighteen months ago, he said he would have all the plants refurbished and that load shedding would end. Earlier this year, he has come out to say he is not going to spend that money on refurbishing the plants and it would be a better investment to put into renewable. Blom accepts the accentuation on renewable was misguided: “It is far and away more terrible because, with renewable, they are discussing battery stockpiling. there is no utility size battery stockpiling plants accessible any place on the planet. No nation is running battery stockpiling as reinforcement.”

As load shedding was implemented the last few days, Eskom could conduct some repairs to generating units and the maintenance programme proceed. Despite the fact that they were not able to replenish emergency generation reserves, but could reply on support system.

There are still risks to some generating units, which will pressurize Eskom to implement load shedding at short notice. Electricity still needs to be used sparingly to prevent possibility of load shedding. we also have to note that water pumps are also connected to electricity that supply water to the community meaning water can also be affected by load shedding.

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