Assessing the Feasibility and the Potential of Implementing Solar Water Heaters in Dimbaza, a Township in Eastern Cape, South Africa
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Objectives
- To analyse the responses from the questionnaires on the section of environmental impact by the representatives of the selected households to categorise the level of awareness of the adverse consequences due to the consumption of electricity from the Eskom national grid.
- To determine the simple payback period potential for an installed solar water heater with an auxiliary electric heater as a replacement for an existing electric water heater in a house in Dimbaza based on the energy consumption and cost of electricity.
- To conduct walk-through energy audits with emphasis on the sources of energy used and types of electric water heaters in the sample households.
- To quantitatively analyse the ambient temperature, solar irradiation, and sunshine hours to justify the efficiency and better performance of solar water heaters that are installed in Dimbaza.
3. Methodology
3.1. Study Area
3.2. Design of the Study
- Design of the survey questionnaires that were administered to the sample population residing in Ward 36 in Dimbaza. In South Africa, wards are geographical subdivisions of a municipality used for electoral purposes.
- Use of analytic analysis to interpret the secondary data retrieved from the literature of published articles based on the performance of solar water heaters in the townships of South Africa.
- Design of a systematical method to analyse the historical data on the electrical energy consumption for whole buildings and the hot-water heating devices in Dimbaza.
- Design of a method to perform walk-through energy audits for the sample homes in Dimbaza.
3.3. Methods of the Study
3.4. Data Collection
3.5. Data Analysis
4. Results and Discussion
4.1. Sample Population and the Sources of Income
4.2. Monthly Electricity Consumption in a Residence
4.3. Computing the Economic and Environmental Benefits of Retrofitting Electric Water Heaters with SWHs
4.4. Walk-Through Energy Audits of the Sample Residences
4.5. Grouping of the Sample Houses with Electricity as the Only Energy Source
4.6. Electric Water Heater Sizes within the Household Grouping
4.7. Cost on Monthly Electricity and Income Scale
4.8. Estimated Monthly Electricity Consumption for hot-Water Heating and the Whole Building
4.9. Qualitative Rating of the Awareness of the Impact of Climate Change
- Most households stated that they used less fuel in general than before the installation.
- Fewer households used wood and LPG and more households used electricity and paraffin for water heating.
- The financial savings due to the SWH were estimated by 70% of the respondents to be between ZAR 50 and ZAR 100 per month.
- Most of the household indicated that they were aware of the negative impacts of generating electricity from fossils fuel and, thus, they were advocating for SWHs for heating water.
- Almost every respondent of the follow up survey would recommend the installation to friends [35].
4.10. Ambient Temperature and Relative Humidity
4.11. Sunshine Hours and Global Solar Radiation
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. A Template of a Questionnaire Used to Collect Data in Low Income Residences in Dimbaza
Date | ____________________________________________________ |
Interviewee | ____________________________________________________ |
Appendix A.1. Questions for the Questionnaire
- What is the mode of hot water heating (electricity, LPG, Biodigester, wood etc)
- Number of inhabitants per household?
- Is the household employed, self-employed, unemployed, kids grant or old age grant?
- Total monthly income?
- Amount of money spent on electricity monthly
- Source of energy for lighting, cooking and heating water?
- Does the house have an installed and operating electric water heater (yes or no)
- What is the size of the electric water heater (50, 100, 150, 200 l)
- How many periods of a day, hot water is likely to be used (1, 2, 3)
- Does your house have installed SWH?
- Benefits of using SWH?
- Do you think it installation of SWH would reduce your monthly electric cost?
- Do you think the use of SWH would have a positive impact on you economically, environmentally and socially?
- What time is SWH most efficient to provide hot water?
- What time do SWH reach maximum hot water temperature?
- Volume of Hot water used daily?
- What is the household’s alternative method to heat water?
- What time of the day do the households use hot water mostly?
- Best months for SWH efficiency?
- Percentage of hot water availability from the winter months?
Appendix A.2. Awareness of Environmental Impact
- (i)
- The correct identification of the primary source of electricity utilized by Eskom for the generation of baseload from the list of provided answers?(a) Hydro energy (b) Solar PV energy (c) Coal thermal energy (d) Nuclear energy (c) Wind energy
- (ii)
- The baseload electricity from Eskom national grid can be classified as(a) Eco-friendly energy (b) Clean energy (c) Renewable energy (d) Conventional energy (e) None of the above
- (iii)
- Pick the correct answer, Eskom’s baseload electricity is a major contributor to the factors responsible to climate change in South Africa(a) True (b) False (c) Neither a or b is correct (d) a and b are correct
- (iv)
- A main environmental impact due to generation of the Eskom’s base load electricity(a) emission of greenhouse gasses (b) emission of oxygen (c) emission of hydrocarbon (d) emission of background radiation (e) None are correct
- (v)
- The lifespan of human beings can be shortening significantly as result of exposure to the greenhouse gasses emitted from coal thermal power plants(a) True (b) False
Appendix B. Theoretical and Simplified Equation
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Source of Income | Number of Household Representatives | Household Representatives (%) |
---|---|---|
Employment | 25 | 34.24 |
Pension | 16 | 29.92 |
Child grant | 14 | 19.18 |
Disability grant | 07 | 9.59 |
Small business | 05 | 6.85 |
Others | 06 | 8.22 |
Energy (kWh) | H2O (L) | CO2 (kg) | SO2 (kg) | NOX (kg) | Ash (kg) | Coal (kg) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conversion Factors for: | Energy (kWh) | H2O Savings (1.34 L) | CO2 (0.99 kg/kWh) | SO2 (7.33 kg/kWh) | NOX (4.19 kg/kWh) | Ash (0.16 kg/kWh) | Coal (0.5 kg/kWh) |
Electric water (Baseline) | 6726.00 | 9012.84 | 6658.74 | 49,301.58 | 28,181.94 | 1076.16 | 3363.00 |
SWH with auxiliary (Assessed scenario) | 4035.60 | 5407.70 | 3995.24 | 29,580.95 | 16,909.16 | 645.69 | 2017.80 |
Avoided emission/energy/material consumption due to changing the water-heating supply. | 2690.40 | 3605.14 | 2663.5 | 19,720.63 | 11,272.78 | 430.46 | 1345.20 |
Number of Households | Source of Energy Use for Lighting | Source of Energy Use for Cooking | Source of Energy Use for Space Heating | Source of Energy Use for Hot-Water Heating | Source of Energy use for Small Appliances (Radio, TV Set, and Refrigerator) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
50 | Electricity | Electricity | Electricity | Electricity | Electricity |
10 | Electricity | LPG | Electricity | Electricity | Electricity |
3 | Electricity | Paraffin | Paraffin | Paraffin | Electricity |
10 | Electricity | Wood | None | Wood | electricity |
Electric Water Heater, Electrical Power Rating, and Tank Sizes | |||
---|---|---|---|
Household Occupants’ Groups | No. High-Pressure 2.0 kW, 100 L Electric Water Heaters | No. High-Pressure 3.0 kW, 150 L Electric Water Heaters | No. High-Pressure 4.0 kW, 200 L Electric Water Heaters |
01–03 occupants | 10 | 03 | 00 |
04–06 occupants | 03 | 15 | 02 |
07–09 occupants | 01 | 05 | 06 |
10–more occupants | 00 | 02 | 03 |
Electric Water Heater Sizes (L) | No. of Household Heads | Estimated Average Monthly Cost on Electricity (ZAR) | No. of Households with Males as Household Heads | No. of Households with Females as Household Heads | Estimated Range of Average Monthly Income for the Overall Households (ZAR) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
100 L | 14 | 650.00 | 6 | 8 | 2600.00–4300.00 |
150 L | 25 | 900.00 | 11 | 14 | 3000.00–7000.00 |
200 L | 11 | 1200.00 | 5 | 6 | 4400.0–12,000.00 |
Electric Water Heater (L) | No. of Household Heads | Estimated Average Monthly Cost of Electricity (ZAR) | Estimated Average Monthly Energy Consumed (kWh) | Estimated Average Monthly Cost of Water Heating (ZAR) | Estimated Average Monthly Energy Consumed by Electric Water Heater (kWh) | Estimated Capital and Installation Cost (ZAR) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
100 L | 14 | 650.00 | 541.66 | 299.00 | 249.17 | 9100.00 |
150 L | 25 | 900.00 | 750.00 | 477.00 | 345.00 | 13,300.00 |
200 L | 11 | 1200.00 | 1000.00 | 540.00 | 450.00 | 16,200.00 |
Rating of Knowledge of the Impact of Climate Change by Household Representatives | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Response from Household Heads with the Electric Water Heater Sizes | Level 1 (No Knowledge) | Level 2 (Low Knowledge) | Level 3 (Average Knowledge) | Level 4 (Good Knowledge) | Level 5 (Excellent Knowledge) |
100 L | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
150 L | 0 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 2 |
200 L | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
Months | Average Month–Day Ambient Temperature (°C) | Maximum Month–Day Ambient Temperature (°C) | Minimum Month–Day Ambient Temperature (°C) | Average Month–Day Relative Humidity (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
January | 20.39 | 33.97 | 10.35 | 87.97 |
February | 20.10 | 33.55 | 9.72 | 87.03 |
March | 19.42 | 32.45 | 9.32 | 84.94 |
April | 16.63 | 28.97 | 6.53 | 79.87 |
May | 15.42 | 26.88 | 5.63 | 70.42 |
June | 15.42 | 26.88 | 5.63 | 70.42 |
July | 12.88 | 24.71 | 1.33 | 56.75 |
August | 13.42 | 26.63 | 3.67 | 59.71 |
September | 15.73 | 30.73 | 4.80 | 75.13 |
October | 16.55 | 32.16 | 5.00 | 78.58 |
November | 16.79 | 31.46 | 5.79 | 86.58 |
December | 18.79 | 33.13 | 8.17 | 88.46 |
Months | Average Month–Day Sunrise Time | Average Month–Day Sunset Time | Average Month–Day Duration of Solar Availability (h) | Average Month–Day Global Solar Radiation (kWh/m2/day) |
---|---|---|---|---|
January | 5:18:00 AM | 7:22:00 PM | 14.17 | 6.90 |
February | 5:47:00 AM | 7:02:00 PM | 13.46 | 5.80 |
March | 6:10:00 AM | 6:29:00 PM | 12.56 | 5.00 |
April | 6:32:00 AM | 5:47:00 PM | 11.50 | 3.80 |
May | 6:54:00 AM | 5:20:00 PM | 11.02 | 3.60 |
June | 7:11:00 AM | 5:11:00 PM | 10.06 | 3.20 |
July | 7:11:00 AM | 5:22:00 PM | 10.10 | 3.30 |
August | 6:48:00 AM | 5:44:00 PM | 10.73 | 3.50 |
September | 6:10:00 AM | 6:02:00 PM | 11.64 | 5.30 |
October | 5:30:00 AM | 6:23:00 PM | 12.65 | 5.75 |
November | 5:01:00 AM | 6:49:00 PM | 13.44 | 6.70 |
December | 4:57:00 AM | 7:15:00 PM | 14.23 | 6.65 |
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Peter, S.; Kambule, N.; Tangwe, S.; Yessoufou, K. Assessing the Feasibility and the Potential of Implementing Solar Water Heaters in Dimbaza, a Township in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Sustainability 2022, 14, 12502. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912502
Peter S, Kambule N, Tangwe S, Yessoufou K. Assessing the Feasibility and the Potential of Implementing Solar Water Heaters in Dimbaza, a Township in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Sustainability. 2022; 14(19):12502. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912502
Chicago/Turabian StylePeter, Sinethemba, Njabulo Kambule, Stephen Tangwe, and Kowiyou Yessoufou. 2022. "Assessing the Feasibility and the Potential of Implementing Solar Water Heaters in Dimbaza, a Township in Eastern Cape, South Africa" Sustainability 14, no. 19: 12502. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912502