Before installing solar panels at home, you have to have your electricity usage monitored professionally for at least two weeks as it is essential to know when your peak demand is and when it happens. This exercise will cost about R7500, but it is a very important step in the process.
That was one of the useful tips that Hendrik Engelbrecht, an electrical engineer from the company Get off Grid in Johannesburg, gave the club. Hendrik was the speaker at the meeting this week. His company installed solar at the home of Paul Chinn and Babette Gallard.
Paul introduced Hendrik, who spoke on Zoom, by telling how he and Babette had used solar panels to power the maternity hospital they project managed in Tanzania, where the power was sometimes off for seven days at a time. Their system has already lasted 4 years and is going strong.
Hendrik said solar power is not a short-term investment and you must make sure that the system you invest in will last for at least 15 years and more. That means carefully vetting suppliers and checking warranties on panels and batteries alike. A system that uses batteries will only pay itself back in savings in 6 - 8 years, he warned.
He also said South Africa is still 5 - 7 years behind in feeding solar and wind power back into the grid in a significant way and he feels the announcement of the government's latest energy plan came a bit prematurely.
There's an interesting few weeks ahead, starting next week when the club will hold a special meeting to mark Women's Month in August. Be prepared for a floral meeting, although the organisers are not letting too many cats out of the bag yet, apart from promising "lots of little surprises".
Expect two more inductions; and President Julian Nagy has announced that Karlien Kruger will be running the meeting. It's clearly a case of men having to take a step back! Michelle Jefferies, who is a counsellor and also a former colleague Karlien's, will be the speaker in keeping with the theme of the meeting.
On Wednesday 24 August club committees will have an opportunity to meet and hold discussions during the meeting hour.
There will be no meeting on Wednesday, 31 August, which will be replaced by a special Power of Pennies evening the following Saturday, 3 September. The organisers have not revealed too many details about that yet either, but promise to do so soon. Ivone Vosloo is the organiser so expect a Portuguese theme.
Dates to Diarise: 17 September is World Cleanup Day and arrangements are going well according to Babette Gallard and Paul Chinn, who've done a great job in project managing this effort as well.
World Cleanup Day will be celebrated in 190 countries and the cleanup of the Braamfontein Spruit has been chosen as the flagship project for the whole of South Africa, in itself a huge achievement. Emphasis will be given to the educational aspects of the cleanup of the spruit in keeping with the club theme of helping children in need.
Babette put out an appeal on WhatsApp this week for contributions for gloves and has already gained a lot of support from club members. The best contribution is of course to be there on the day with all the right equipment and the right frame of mind.
The other important date to remember is our annual Golf Day at the Parkview Golf Club on 21 October.
Start collecting wine and other drinks for the Barrow of Booze; prizes for the four balls; and get ready to start selling raffle tickets and hole sponsors. It's the main New Dawn fundraiser of the year and therefore a very important day for all of us.
A Thought for the Week: A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. - Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
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