South African Universities and Specialists Meeting

Professors and students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Nelson Mandela University (NMU), Durban University of Technology (DUT), University of South-Africa (UNISA), UNSA Foundation, Henri du Plooy from Specialized Solar Systems (South Africa), The Hague University of Applied Sciences, and Eaton Industries Netherlands were present at the meeting of DC Systems B.V.

The meeting was convened with notable universities and specialists to look into the possibilities of combining the developments of DC microgrids in the developed world with the developing areas. And, more importantly, to discuss how the developments could fit into the rural areas where there is no access to electricity grids.

More than one billion people live without access to electricity in the world, for a large part in Africa and India. In a present-day society, electricity is one of the essentials of life. The big topic is how to realise access to electricity. In western countries, the electricity grid itself is not a business case but a social use case. The grids are developed by municipalities and the business case is made on using the asset organised by the society.

The other big challenge is that the DC system must be future proof in order to prevent having to invest twice in a row. We understand that for us, in the western countries, it sounds easy, but social cultural aspects have always been hard to understand. From this point of view, we actively work together with the local universities in South Africa to get the right knowledge. Direct Current B.V. is fully active in the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and works hard to achieve a DC future. A DC future with a compatible DC system worldwide, for the developed as well as the developing countries. "This is the last chance in the word to travel without adapters," adds DC expert and CEO Direct Current B.V. Harry Stokman with a wink.