An MUT academic’s study has discovered a solution to electricity supply problems. The growth in electricity demand from customers leads to problems as the supply is less. Sboniso Masikana, a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering, in the Faculty of Engineering, conducted a PhD study, whose topic was ‘Solarphotovoltaic integrated load frequency control studies of an interconnected power system’. His qualification is a Ph.D in Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
Dr Masikana made a comprehensive analysis and robust operational scheme. To enhance the efficacy of the control scheme, integration of solar photovoltaic and some other energy storage systems was used. Robust tests were performed in the proposed controller and the results indicate a capability of consistently solving the power system issues. Furthermore, under this study, four journal articles were published in four internationally accredited journals.
Dr Masikana discovered that the solution to the supply/demand problem of power stations was that integrated renewable energy should be drawn in to make up for the shortfall. Dr Masikana employed a need for renewable energy during peak hours, when customer demand is higher, or is more than what was scheduled by the supplier. “Because this does not need a human interaction, a proportional integration derivative (PID) controller is a control loop feedback mechanism used in industrial control systems and other applications needing continuous modulation. The PID adjusts the output of a process based on the difference between a desired setpoint and the measured process variable. Dr Masikana said the framework is developed in order to provide the best optimisation solutions supported by a stochastic frictional search algorithm and a flower pollination algorithm.
Dr Masikana said he felt happy about his achievement. “This shows the passion and capabilities that I have. It also shows my multitasking abilities; I had to conduct lectures while I was doing his research,” he said. Dr Maiskana now plans to supervise postgraduate students and continue researching modern power systems and renewable energy. Dr Masikana’s supervisors were Professor Gulshan Sharma, from UJ, and Dr Sachin Sharma, from India. Dr Masikana graduated on 23 July 2025 at the University of Johannesburg.