South Africa pushes solar traffic lights
"Following the phenomenal success of the pilot project solar powered, eight robot intersection on Plantation road in Cape Town, the NEEA has had many requests for solar intersections throughout the country," he added.
The NEEA has put in a proposal to get funding from the State through the Department of Minerals and Energy for the R15-million required to roll out the 100 intersections.
The NEEA has also investigated the possibility of corporate sponsors to assist with the capital costs of installing the solar powered technology for the traffic light intersections.
"A company could sponsor one or two intersections near to its offices. This would lessen congestion in the area and could likely increase productivity as employees would no longer spend time in traffic jams caused by robots affected during power cuts," Bedenkamp said.
Solar panels at the top of the light pole are used to power the lights, and surplus power is stored in the battery packs, allowing the system to work throughout the night, and for up to three days of cloudy weather if need be.
Solar-powered traffic-light systems have been operational in Europe for years and, more recently, have been manufactured in Japan.
The company that implemented the pilot project in South Africa was MagCode SA, of Cape Town.
Related News

Electricity and water do mix: How electric ships are clearing the air on the B.C. coast
TORONTO - The river is running strong and currents are swirling as the 150-metre-long Seaspan Reliant slides gently into place against its steel loading ramp on the shores of B.C.'s silty Fraser River.
The crew hustles to tie up the ship, and then begins offloading dozens of transport trucks that have been brought over from Vancouver Island.
While it looks like many vessels working the B.C. coast, below decks, the ship is very different. The Reliant is a hybrid, partly powered by electricity, the seagoing equivalent of a Toyota Prius.
Down below decks, Sean Puchalski walks past a whirring internal…