South Africa’s first solar-powered traffic lights were switched on in Cape Town at noon on Monday.
Located at the intersection of Edna Street and Montagu’s Gift Road, south of Ottery, the four pairs of lights draw their power, via batteries, from solar panels on top of poles.
While the environmentally friendly lights will help reduce the city’s electricity bill, their main purpose is to keep traffic flowing during power cuts.
National Energy Efficiency Agency operations manager Barry Bredenkamp told the South African Press Association the pilot site would be monitored to quantify the saving for motorists in both fuel and time saved.
According to the agency, an eight-pole traffic light set uses the same amount of electricity as ”a family of four occupying a three-bedroom house”.
Asked how long he thought the solar equipment would remain in place in crime-prone Cape Town, Bredenkamp said the batteries were located in a thief-proof ”enclosed concrete casing” at the bottom of each pole.
”You’d need a mini-limpet mine to get it open,” he said.
The solar panels were located on top of ”fairly high” poles to prevent vandalism.
Bredenkamp said the solar-powered lights for the pilot project cost R150 000, but if they were installed in large numbers this would drop to R110 000 for a set of eight. A conventional set cost R80 000. — Sapa