{"id":117282,"date":"2015-01-22T14:55:11","date_gmt":"2015-01-22T12:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=117282"},"modified":"2015-01-22T14:57:04","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T12:57:04","slug":"solar-powered-pc-lab-is-completely-off-the-grid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/117282-solar-powered-pc-lab-is-completely-off-the-grid.html","title":{"rendered":"Solar-powered PC lab is completely off the grid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Umhloti Primary School in KwaZulu-Natal no longer has to worry about Eskom’s load shedding interrupting its IT lessons, thanks to a solar-powered PC lab which runs completely off the grid.<\/p>\n

The lab is housed in a modified shipping container and runs off of batteries which are charged by solar panels attached to the unit.<\/p>\n

“The lab has thermal insulation and ceiling fans for temperature control. There are 21 desktop PCs\u00a0in the lab, one of them being a file and print sever. Lighting is provided by means of LED light tubes,” said\u00a0founder of giveITback\u00a0Jonathan Michael.<\/p>\n

The self-powered lab is the first of its kind in Africa, said Michael, and is aimed at\u00a0non-affluent schools with a lack of infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Internet connectivity is also included with the lab by means of a 3G connection – the speed influenced by the\u00a0lab’s location.<\/p>\n

“Despite the technology used in the Solar PC Lab, it is currently the most economical solution available, retailing at only R450 000,” Michael said.<\/p>\n

The series of photos below shows the PC lab’s construction, from an empty container to a functional classroom.<\/p>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

The lab begins as a container<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

Lab container<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

A lick\u00a0of paint is applied and a window installed<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

Work begins on the inside of the lab<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

The lab takes shape<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

The PCs are installed<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

Lab complete<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

Pack it onto a truck, and we’re off<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

Ready for scholars to enter<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

Let the learning begin<\/p><\/div>\n

More education news<\/h3>\n

False Matric numbers revealed<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Easiest and most difficult matric subjects<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

South Africa stone last in Mathematics, Science education ranking<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to its solar-powered PC lab, a KwaZulu-Natal school doesn’t have to worry about Eskom load shedding interrupting its IT lessons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":340966,"featured_media":117306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[26120,28478,35,28476,4922],"class_list":["post-117282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-computer-education","tag-giveitback","tag-headline","tag-pc-lab","tag-solar-power"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/340966"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}