SA start-up to sell solar window blinds

WINDOW blinds need not be just to keep the sun away, but converting such sun to solar energy is the new talk in South Africa’s start-up environment.

The founder of a local engineering start-up, Lisa von Benecke of LC Dynamics, hopes to soon offer South Africans a new approach to coping with unending electricity problems – solar panels built into window blinds.

LC Dynamics, established last year, manufactures mobile Venetian window blinds with solar PV cells built into their slats.

Their mechanisms have motors to tilt the slats to track the sun. They have lithium-ion battery packs, a built-in light emitting diode (LED) light, and multiple direct current outputs for charging devices.

These can be used to power other solar window blinds and can also be connected to a grid-tied or off-grid battery or inverter system.

The blinds can power cellphones, laptops, LED lighting for about four hours, security systems, and other appliances if they are plugged in directly from the devices.

By December, the start-up plans to have on sale the mobile solar panel blinds at an affordable price point, possibly starting at N$5 000.

“We’re set to launch before the end of this year. We are still testing before we put the final product into the market,” Von Benecke said.

Speaking to Business Insider South Africa, Von Benecke said the blinds were the answer for people living in sectional title properties and tenants who cannot commit to traditional solar solutions for reasons such as space constraints and ownership.

“It’s for tenants who quite often can’t install anything permanent, and when they move out, even if there was something installed, it’s a loss for them because they have to move without it,” she said.

– Additional report, Business Inside SA

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