Sparks Electrical News September 2018

CONTRACTORS’ CORNER

6

TALKING ELECTRICITY WITH ANDREW LUKE DAPSHIS

THE LAND OF TORCHES

A recent African project took us to the city of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Because the country is at war everything, including electricity, was scarce and we would ex- perience up to eight hours of load shedding or ‘sharing’ as the locals called it. Eight hours of no power for their city meant two weeks of power for a smaller town. For the first time in my career I experienced a city with no street lights – just torches and lamps as far as the eye could see – making it virtually impossible for any night-time travel or navigation. Could solar- and wind-powered street lighting be an option for Lubumbashi? Various companies have been trying to invent a reasonable alternative to electric sourced lights since the 1960s, and have come up with some truly weird and wonderful designs, which rarely worked for long enough to be considered as good as or better

as they come to the end of their lifespans. China is attempting to make this the standard and hopes that within the next few years it will change most of its current lighting systems to hybrid light systems, making the country more proactive in green technology. Wonderful as all this sounds, realistically, turbines and solar panels have to be cleaned from time to time. Also, should birds fly into the turbines, not only would the birds die, but the turbine could possibly cease too. As much as designers might declare hybrid/solar powered lights to be virtually maintenance and running-cost free, this is most definitely not the case. Since the new system has not been implemented long enough to validate the proposed lifetime of the parts, only time will tell if the claims are true. But, it is a step in the right direction as we try and minimise the damage we constantly cause to our environment.

than a street light fed off the grid. Very few companies have ventured into wind powered lighting since wind is not a constant, whereas the sun rises every day. Enter hybrid wind/solar powered lights, first making a splash in China and the Middle East. Used primarily for car parks and over highways, they are built with strong wind turbines which ensure electricity is always generated, no matter how cloudy it is. In some areas they were connected to the grid, allowing any excess power generated through the solar panels or wind turbines to be fed back into the system, and guaranteeing that all connected would be illuminated for an average of eight to ten hours a day. Designers behind this technology rate the turbines and LED lifespan at around 20 years (depending on weather factors), with minimal maintenance required, other than changing out batteries

The thought of the war torn areas, such as the DRC, in Africa having access to this technology is wonderful. But – even if implemented – in such volatile environments, the installations would unfortunately be at risk of being damaged. An inexpensive and easy way for that country to have lighting is unlikely to be realised for many years, which leaves its people in a land of torches.

SELF-ADJUSTING CRIMPING PLIERS FOR END SLEEVES

Knipex Twistor16 crimping pliers for end sleeves (ferrules) offer the user two major advantages: automatic adjustment to the end sleeves used, which makes work easier for the pro- fessional, and reliable, fast crimping. Features of the new tool include: • Square crimp profile, high capacity range of 0.14 to 16 mm². • For crimping end sleeves (ferrules) according to DIN 46228 parts 1 + 4. • 360° rotatable crimping die; with eight tactile locking positions. • Self-adjustment to the desired size of end sleeve (ferrule): no crimping errors due to using the wrong crimping die or to an incor- rect setting. • Crimping of twin end sleeves (fer- rules) up to 2 x 6 mm² possible. • Slim head for ideal accessibility. • Repetitive, high crimping quality because of integral lock (self-re- leasing mechanism). • Favourable lever ratio due to tog- gle lever. • Crimping pressure has been set precisely (calibrated) in the factory, re-adjustable. • Handy shape and low weight pro- vide high operation comfort. • Chrome vanadium electric steel in special quality, oil-hardened. The Knipex Twistor16 is available in South Africa through Garry Lumpe Imports.

Enquiries: +27 (0)11 396 4065

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2018