THE POTENTIAL OF LARGE-SCALE IMPLEMENTATION OF SOLAR THERMALTECHNOLOGIES IN SOUTH AFRICAN HOSPITALS

1 SUMMARY This study investigates the potential for the large-scale roll-out and implementation of solar thermal (ST) technologies in South African hospitals to offset conventional fuel use and identifies challenges relating to this potential uptake. There are a total of 696 hospitals in South Africa (SA) with a total thermal energy demand for 20 hot water of 370 GWh per year. A total installed collector area of 73 972 m2 to 147 944 m2 across all hospitals in SA would increase the overall ST capacity of all these hospitals to compensate for 20 to 40% of their combined annual thermal energy demand. The major limiting factor for the uptake of ST technologies in South African hospitals is the current wide spread use of coal fired boilers as well as heat-pumps, making the adoption of ST technologies less feasible from a financial perspective. 25