The Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa: Solar Water Heating (SESSA SWH) has opened a dedicated office in Cape Town to, among other goals, help achieve its vision of installing one square metre of solar collector per person by 2020.
A non-profit organisation dedicated to the creation and continued growth of an authoritative renewable energy hub, SESSA was founded in 1974. It is the duly appointed Africa office of International Solar Energy Society (ISES), which is regarded as the premier body in solar energy worldwide with members in over 100 countries.
SESSA SWH has about 500 members nation-wide, and strives to enhance and improve the growth of this sector of renewable energy in southern Africa. It works closely with Eskom and other partner organisations to help execute its rebate programme; all SESSA members are officially accredited to sign up end-users for rebates.
The new office, situated in the Colosseum Building in Century Boulevard at Cape Town’s landmark Century City, will be run by Robin Thomson, who served on the SESSA SWH committee from 2007 to 2011 and will deepen the technical service expertise of the SESSA solar office.
Thomson sees the growth in SESSA being reflected in ordinary South Africans’ acceptance of renewable energy sources over fossil fuels, where suitable, so that renewable sources account for a major share of all their energy needs.
“Getting to this point obviously requires a great deal of work and ongoing education of the people of our country, as well as the widespread availability of renewables throughout the country,” he said.
“Having an office in Cape Town will go a long way towards spreading the message of sustainable energy more directly across a broader spectrum of the South African population and make available much-needed analysis and research for the sector,” added SESSA SWH ambassador, Irvan Damon.
“SESSA SWH is already active in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, and with an office now in the Western Cape, we are in a far stronger position to offer our solar expertise and knowledge to the industry, Government, parastatals and the market to assist with relevant technical support, relevant industry sector information and analysis.”
SESSA SWH members and interested parties are invited to contact the new office on 021 526 0476 or robin.thomson@sessa.org.za to meet Thomson.
For information on becoming members of SESSA, please do mail membership@sessa.org.za and our Johannesburg office may be reached on 011 513 4071.
Upcoming SESSA plans include launching a Heat Pump (HP) division to complement its solar water heating activities as well as deepening the reach of its existing Photovoltaic division.
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