Tebogo Monama

Tebogo Monama

Businessman Jomo Sono might have a solution to the ongoing power outages.

Sono's company, Safesky Africa Technology, has bought the full rights to a computerised electricity system (CES) from Israeli inventor Lupu Wittner.

Wittner believes the system can solve Eskom's problems.

He said: "CES is a flexible system for saving electricity and if implemented in South African homes, Eskom will not have to build power stations anymore. With the system, we can solve major power problems in two and a half years."

CES acts as a house's main switch and the homeowner can choose which appliances to switch on or off during peak hours and never suffer power outages anymore.

"If the utility (Eskom) wants to save 20percent of electricity during peak hours, the utility commands the customer through the CES. The CES will then switch off all low priority appliances that the customer chooses. We will then have flexible load shedding."

Customers choose which appliances are priority on a scale of zero to five - zero being the highest priority.

This means that people will have a choice of which appliances to switch off or on and still save the required amount of electricity. The system can be remotely-controlled or by a cellphone. It has safety features that ensure that appliances are never hit by lightning.

"CES switches off an appliance if there is a risk of it being hit by lightning. The system can only be effective if people in the middle class bracket who can afford it, buy it," Wittner said.

He said the "inexpensive" system would be manufactured in the country.

"It has been tested in Israel and the United States. Eskom tested it a year ago and were impressed. We hope that they buy into the concept," he said.

CES is now waiting for approval from the South African Bureau of Standards.