Dr Sandile Phillip Koko, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Computer System Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, Built-Environment, Information Technology (FEBIT), presented a paper at the 2nd International Conference on Power Engineering (ICPE 2021) that was hosted in Nanning, China. Koko was among numerous presenters from different countries around the world, who were also presenting their electrical engineering research papers.

After the conference presentations, his oral presentation was selected as the best one of this conference as certified by the board of directors. He presented a paper entitled “Optimal battery sizing for a grid-tied solar photovoltaic system supplying a residential load: a case study under South African solar irradiance”. The paper has since been accepted for publication in the high impact Scopus Elsevier Journal of Energy Report. The Manuscript Number: EGYR-D-22-00605.

“I am very delighted for being selected as the best presentation winner of the ICPE 2021 international conference. It is such a great honour and pleasure to receive such recognition at an international level. This has deepened my commitment and further inspired me to continue putting enormous time and effort into innovative research activities. Additionally, I am thoroughly delighted for my paper to be recommended for publication in such high impact journals. Such journals are of great future consequences in terms of high citation rate as a result of a well-established peer review system,” says Dr Koko. “I would like to thank the office of the Faculty Dean as well as the office of the Assistant Dean: Research and Innovation, for the great financial support to participate in the conference. I would also like to thank the Head of the Department, Prof. Kanzumba Kusakana, for bringing such a valued international conference to our attention,” said Dr Koko.

Dr Sandile Phillip Koko joined CUT as Lecturer’s Assistant in 2005 and upon completing his bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Project Management, was appointed as Technical Assistant in 2007. In 2015, while pursuing his master’s degree, he received the best post-graduate student award and was later appointed as a lecturer. In the same year, Dr Koko earned another award for being one of the best presenters at the South African Universities Power Engineering Conference (SAUPEC). He developed and presented a mathematical model to analyse the performance of a micro-hydrokinetic power generation system.

Upon completing his Doctor of Engineering (DEng) degree in Electrical Engineering in 2019, where he graduated as the first African student to receive such, he was promoted to Senior Lecturer position. During his doctoral study, he conducted groundbreaking research that contributes substantially to technological-scientific knowledge in engineering. The research focuses on developing an optimal control algorithm that led to effective management of disturbances caused by load demand uncertainties in a grid-interactive micro-hydrokinetic system.   

In his undergraduate studies, he developed a passion for solar energy research and continued writing articles after his postgraduate studies. “I noticed that South Africa has an abundant amount of sunlight to use for the benefit of our society. I also believe that South Africa has a good future to invest in solar energy systems from electricity generation and water heating perspectives. This will bring electricity cost-saving benefits as well as saving our planet by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases caused by the traditional electricity generation method.”

He added that as the cost price of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels decreases, this will also serve as a huge necessity to increase the use of solar energy generation systems in our country. “By investing in roof-mounted solar PV panels, one can easily protect themself against the unpredictable loadshedding and unpredictable local utility electricity price increase. Besides the solar PV panels, I also encourage people to invest in solar geysers because boiling water with an electric geyser and electric kettle consumes more electricity. A solar geyser can save you up to an average of 40% of the total electricity bills.” said Koko.        

He is a South African Energy Efficiency Confederation (SAEEC) member and professionally registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). He believes that energy efficiency is the first line of defence in restoring the planet against the effects of climate change and electricity cost savings.

Koko and his team are involved in energy efficiency projects within the university. They are proposing a smart and artificial intelligence system that will employ the 4^th industrial revolution technologies to conduct energy efficiency audits for the university's facilities.

“The energy audit project will also focus on monitoring and determining the performance of the existing 153.7 kWp solar PV plant as installed on campus. This energy efficiency project will also lead to the justification of the economic, environmental and social benefits brought by the intervention of energy efficiency and renewable energy system within our campus through smart internet of things,” he said.