When your solar power system becomes more than just a convenience.

Palliative Care Solar Power System Requirements in South Africa

It’s no secret that load-shedding is a massive inconvenience to most people. We often joke about people who have not moved over to a solar power system yet. However, when you are in palliative care, a reliable solar power system could mean the difference between life and death. When your life depends on a dialysis- or oxygen machine that works, there is very little to joke about.

The need for oxygen

“Having access to a continuous supply of oxygen is critical for many. Many people will die without it because they can’t breathe on their own. Long periods of load-shedding or extended outages could have dire consequences,” says Hospice doctor Margie Venter.

“You can have oxygen cylinders that contain concentrated oxygen but it’s an additional cost and they run out quite quickly. It’s not a sustainable solution for someone on long-term oxygen use,” said Venter.

Toxic to the Max

“Load-shedding and old infrastructure could lead to my early death. If we have power outages and our generator blows like it did last night, I’m dead within a maximum of five days. If I miss hours overnight, I start feeling sick. It takes days to recover and remove the accumulated toxins.” These are the words of Robert Gibson who was diagnosed with renal failure in 2013.

Gibson and his wife Heleen have found ways to manage the medical treatment through load-shedding over the years. It has become much more difficult around escalating levels of load-shedding. The increasingly longer outages result from power infrastructure being damaged by load-shedding. “The stress and anxiety are terrible,” Robert elaborated.

The Need for Silence

It is much cheaper to buy a generator to assist with the needs of palliative care individuals. Thanks to escalating diesel costs the price of running a generator is becoming increasingly more expensive and unaffordable. Noise pollution is however real and many retirement villages are banning the use of generators as silence is of utmost importance. Basil Proctor, a very satisfied NuEco Solar client, shared his views on the increasing need for a solar-powered system. “Generators are completely banned in our retirement village. If you do not have a reliable solar power system, people who are on oxygen and dialysis machines cannot stay in our village,” Basil explained. A sad, but very expectable reality to deal with.

Reliability & Trust

The need for reliability and trustworthy solar power systems thumps all other requirements when it comes to palliative care. “It is not a case of being a nuisance when your system is down and you can’t watch a rugby game. These people’s lives are at stake and I take this responsibility extremely seriously,” explains Adriaan Rossouw, Director of NuEco Solar Systems.

“Unfortunately, there are an abundance of solar operators out there who are only in it for the money. They provide you with the cheapest solar system available and cut corners with the installation of the solar system, just to get the work. When it comes to palliative care solar systems, we cannot take any shortcuts,” Adriaan concludes.

Palliative Care Solar System Requirements

If your life or the life of someone that you deeply care about is dependent on a reliable electricity supply, you cannot take chances. You do not have this luxury. Someone’s life is at stake.

Whether your life is dependent on an oxygen or dialysis machine, you need a solar power system that is geared for palliative care.

Give us a call today. We would love to assist you in whatever way we can.

Share the Post:

Related Posts

Open chat
💬 Need help? Chat with Us.
Hello 👋
Can we help you?