Thin crystalline silicon epilayers were grown in a rotating liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) graphite boat. The epilayers were grown from a saturated indium solution, on single-crystal (100) boron-doped Si substrates, using the equilibrium cooling technique. The efficiency of solar cells can be...

This paper reports on the electrification using photovoltaic power of 45 schools in the rural areas near Queenstown, in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. The project was funded by the state, coordinated by Eskom and implemented by Siemens Limited (Solar Division). The University of Port...

Wind, in South Africa, has been a source of energy for many years but at the same time it is taking as much time and effort to receive the recognition it deserves as anywhere else in the world. The wind resource is comparable to a number of areas in the world where wind is exploited as a grid...

Battery charging and water pumping has been the only applications for wind energy in South Africa till now. A conservative estimate of the wind resource indicates that approximately 5% to 6% of the South African energy demands can be supplied from wind. However the low cost of electricity due to...

Developing countries are increasingly feeling the economical and technological pressures brought to bear by their modern trading partners and those who assist them financially. Their only answer to this dilemma is to educate themselves. This in itself posses a severe problem because of dispersed...

Wind and solar energy are both to a large extent affected by the changes in the weather ie they are weather dependent, especially wind. Other factors which have an influence are the change in the earth's declination angle combined with the atmosphere. More regional phenomenon having an effect...

Training of users in the operation and “first line” maintenance of remote area power systems has not been given the priority that it requires. Even a well designed and specified RAPS has its limitations. There are a number of areas which, if not clearly identified and operated within the...

The energy system, discussed, was a typical hybrid where a farmer decided that with the escalating cost of diesel as well as the logistics attached to the supply of diesel to his farm, adding a photovoltaic array to his diesel based system would make economic sense. A study of the energy...