South Africa’s National Energy Efficiency Agency (NEEA) would continue its installation of solar traffic lights throughout the country in 2009, and has the ambition to see 400 critical intersections in Johannesburg, powered independently of the Eskom electricity grid.

“In Johannesburg, we are expecting some major movements in the next month. We would like to see a major roll-out in this area, and still have the target of 400 critical intersections,” explained NEEA operations manager Barry Bredenkamp in an interview with Engineering News Online.

Another focus area for the agency in its sustainable traffic solutions initiative, would be the installation of solar streetlights, or, at the very least, efficient street lights, with a focus on the 2010 FIFA World Cup traffic routes that officials would use.

Already, the agency has facilitated the installation of solar robots at a number of intersections in Gauteng, where the worst of the traffic congestion is felt when robots are not operational. The NEEA acts as a go-between for corporate sponsors or funders, and the local authorities and municipalities, which would be responsible for maintaining the assets after the first year of operation.

State power producer Eskom recently indicated that it has experienced a drop in electricity consumption and demand in recent months, particularly owing to the closure of a number of energy-intensive smelters and furnaces in light of slackened demand for ferrochrome as a result of the broader economic crisis.

This has caused many to worry that renewable energy technologies would be placed further on the backburner as companies and individuals were more concerned with general finance woes, and as the price of fossil fuels such as coal and crude oil had dropped significantly, and no longer urged people to look for alternative sources of energy.

“It has taken away some of the urgency,” concurred South African National Energy Research Institute (Saneri) CEO Kadri Nassiep, “but not the need, because in many instances municipalities will still have to cut down their electricity demand.”

“With cable theft and heavy rainstorms affecting robots, the solar traffic lights have proven their worth with or without load-shedding. Add to that the congestion benefits and environmental benefits,” added Bredenkamp.

The majority of interest in solar robots came from the corporate sector, mostly companies wanting to sponsor a solar-powered intersection near to their offices so as to ease the flow of traffic, and ensure employees were not gridlocked, and thus late for work, should a traffic light fail.

Accordingly, as it is the business hub of South Africa, Johannesburg is where most of the installations are requested, however, getting installations up-and-running in Johannesburg has been slower than the other metropolitan areas in Gauteng, owing largely to administrative hurdles on the part of the Johannesburg Roads Agency.

PROGRESS TO DATE
In Johannesburg, four intersections have been completed at a cost of R3-million, and these are found at the corner of Loveday and Rissik streets; the Grayston on and off-ramps from the M1; the corner of Grayston and Rivonia roads, and the corner of William Nicol and Sloane streets. These were completed by a private sector supplier, and included solar panels and batteries.

Tshwane was keen to take up the solar challenge, and the busy Fountains circle interchange, consisting of about four intersections, was being refitted with solar panels and back-up batteries. The Fountains circle was about 50% complete, and came at a cost of some R1,2-million.

Tshwane was also in the planning phase of implementing a combination of solar, batteries, and uninterruptable power supply (UPS) at traffic lights through the city centre, at another nine intersections.

Mogale City, in the west of Gauteng ,has also fitted some of its busiest 11 intersections with UPS installations, which were completed and co-ordinated by the NEEA, at a cost R1,17-million.

In Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, another 11 intersections had been earmarked for change to either UPS or solar systems.

Construction giant Murray & Roberts Cementation, which has its offices in the area, would fund five of these intersections, and the Ekurhuleni municipality had approached other businesses in the area to come on board for funding towards the other intersections, as this would greatly ease congestion along Van Buuren road, which gets severely congested when traffic lights are out of order.

The NEEA had also completed and co-ordinated an intersection in Cape Town, and was soon to roll out installations at three intersections near petrochemicals manufacturer Sasol’s facilities in Secunda, in Mpumalanga.

When an intersection goes out to tender, of vital importance is the use of reliable equipment, affordable prices, and a proven track-record of the company supplying and installing the systems. It was important to have transparent independent tender processes.

“The critical thing is that we get the funder, and we have a lot of potential funders, and the council has to take ownership of that, because it is their asset, we don’t own that asset. The councils have a one-year unconditional guarantee, so the supplier will fix everything in the first year, thereafter the council has to maintain it themselves. So the local authority has to sign the agreement that they are happy with that deal. Otherwise the asset will just stand there after the first year, and that is why it is critical to get buy-in from the local authority,” said Bredenkamp.

Suppliers, which are also responsible for installing the solar, or UPS units at intersections, maintain the unit in the first year, and are also responsible for skills transfer to the relevant authority regarding maintenance, and procurement of parts.

“Traffic lights will be with us forever,” affirmed Bredenkamp, “and wherever a new development is planned, if there is a new shopping centre, a developer has to do a road traffic management plan for that area, so they have to fund the intersections around that development, and it's not a regulation, but they should be looking at solar options”.

It was more cost-effective to install solar traffic lights at the start, than to retrofit regular intersections.