South Africa Develops Revolutionary Solar Power Technology

By Linda Orlando

A new technology announced earlier this year by a team of South African scientists is causing a buzz of excitement all around the world. The technology, which will enable homes to obtain all their electricity from the sun, means that high electricity bills, fuel shortages, and power failures may soon be just distant memories. The unique solar panels will make it possible for houses to be completely self-sufficient. They are able to generate enough energy to run stoves, lights, televisions, refrigerators, and even computers—all the modern conveniences of the average household.

The new technology was created by a team of scientists led by University of Johannesburg scientist Professor Vivian Alberts, after 10 years of research. The technology behind the solar panels has been patented around the world. Using a special converter, energy from the panels can be fed directly into the existing wiring of houses, and new powerful storage units will hold enough energy storage to meet demands even in extremely cold weather. The panels are so efficient that they can operate in any temperature, and they can generate energy with any daytime light, although direct sunlight generates the most high energy levels.

The South African solar panels are constructed of a thin layer of a unique metal alloy that converts light into energy. The cheap alloy solar panel is much more efficient than the costly old technology silicone solar panels, making the panels much more affordable. The photo-responsive alloy can operate on virtually all flexible surfaces, therefore it may be used in the future in numerous other applications. International experts all agree that nothing else comes close to the effectiveness of the new South African invention.

Alberts said that the new panels are approximately 5 microns in thickness—a human hair is 20 microns thick—while the older silicone panels are 350 microns thick. Therefore, the cost of the panels is a mere fraction of the less efficient silicone panels. Alberts said that in Switzerland, new homes are already required to include solar technology to ease demands on energy from national power grids. "And that was the older, less effective technology," Alberts said. "With our hours of sunlight, we will on average generate twice as much energy than, for instance, European countries."

Other companies have developed technology to work in conjunction with the new South African solar panels. Companies are developing super-efficient storage batteries and special converters to change the energy into various power sources for different countries. One of the global leaders in solar energy solutions, IFE Solar Systems in Germany, has invested huge sums of money in the South African invention and plans to manufacture 500,000 of the panels before the end of the year. Production has already begun and the factory will run 24 hours a day, producing more than 1,000 panels a day to meet expected demand.

Eskom, the state electricity company of South Africa, is doing its own research on solar energy, as well as wind and fuel-cell technology, and the government welcomes any new power supply that will lessen the current demand for electricity. The government is worried that it will run out of capacity for peak surges within two years. Carin de Villiers, a spokesman for Eskom, said the government is "currently investigating building what will probably be the largest solar power plant in the Northern Cape—a 100-megawatt facility." In the past year there have been several power blackouts in Johannesburg, and the government wants to prevent being embarrassed by outages that might occur during the 2010 World Cup.

The new solar panel technology developed by Alberts’ team may have come along just in time. "We are running out of power rapidly," says de Villiers.