South Africa to Increase Solar Traffic Light Installations

Still smarting from a power crisis in 2008 that prompted it to look elsewhere for more efficient sources to power its traffic lights, the South African National Energy Efficiency Agency (NEEA), has announced it was increasing installations of solar powered traffic lights throughout the country.

The agency is working overtime towards completing 400 installations at more than 2,000 major intersections throughout the country, including thoroughfares along the FIFA 2010 World Cup traffic routes under the Sustainable Traffic Solutions Initiative launched in January 2008 at the height of South Africa’s power crisis.

The aim of the initiative was to reduce the number of disruptions caused on busy roads due to power cuts. NEEA is a liaison between corporate sponsors and investors and the local authorities and municipalities.

Based on a business model that calls for the participation of both the private and public sector, NEEA successfully coordinated the installations of a few solar traffic lights and UPS systems at various locations in Gauteng province that also includes Johannesburg, the economic capital of South Africa.

“We’ve had a very positive response from businesses. The corporate sponsors are eager to find ways to make it easier for their staff to get to work or for their customers to access their premises,” said NEEA operations manager, Barry Bredenkamp.

“Through using this technology we limit the opportunities for cable theft, we have reliable robots, less accidents and we save energy. With robots that never experience power cuts, we also won’t spend as much time in traffic and therefore we will reduce carbon emissions and pollution in the air.”

He added: “We can definitely complete 400 installations particularly in Johannesburg.  It is the economic centre of the country and there is good support from funders.”

Image credit: V2/ Flickr