Tired of missing your favourite TV show because of power cuts? Now you can go to the cinema instead.
A portable solar-powered cinema drew an enthusiastic crowd of about 80 yesterday in sunny Cape Town, despite stage 2 load shedding.
Dubbed Sunshine Cinema, the screening in a city building was the latest edition of a community upliftment project that aims to promote social entrepreneurs.
Several solar-powered screenings have already taken place. “The moment there is load shedding, the phone starts ringing,” said Mathias Weber of
MLT Drives, a Cape Townbased technology company specialising in solar electric systems that helped to set up the Cape Town screening.
Weber said power cuts, although hugely inconvenient for the country, were a great advertisement for renewable energy and illustrated the need for innovation in the power supply sector.
Those who attended yesterday ’s screening were equally curious about the movies and the cinema’s unusual power supply — solar panels perched on a trailer next to the front entrance, complete with a bank of powerful batteries.
Sunshine Cinema founding partner Rowan Pybus said the use of sustainable technology was part of the broader aim of promoting innovation and creative thinking.
The showcased short films are part of a series, each one focusing on a social entrepreneur, and the screenings take place in the communities where the films were produced.