While the cost of electricity is a constant bugbear in many countries, South Africans face a bigger problem: keeping the lights on. These blackouts prompted Cape Town native Charlotte Slingsby to seek out a solution after her family home was found to be unsuitable for solar panels.

The result was Moya (wind in the Xhosa language), a new energy generation system: sheets of plastic have wave-like filaments attached that capture tiny amounts of wind energy that can then be stored in a battery.

“We need an independent solution for today,” Slingsby said. “You see a city which functions on electricity which just falls apart, from the most basic things like opening a door [or] an electric gate. You can’t even take your car out of the garage.”

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