The energy crisis is causing a boom in small solar installations in South Africa

2023-05-08 22:01:19
South Africa is plunged into an endless energy crisis. With its aging coal-fired power plants, domestic producer Eskom still fails to meet demand. For several weeks, South Africans have been plunged into darkness for about six hours a day. Some have therefore decided to turn to alternative production methods such as solar energy. Report at the annual solar energy fair in Johannesburg. Nolo Manamela set up his small business installing solar solutions with a friend a year ago, and business is already going well: “I’ve lost count, but since the start, we’ve installed more than 50, he explains. Currently, six containers of solar panels are expected to arrive from China, as well as 550-watt panels from Canada. The vast majority of installations come from abroad, and imports have increased sharply in recent months, according to the tax administration. “Sales are exploding” Inside the country, the South African company ARTSolar has chosen to assemble its panels locally. Pravir Seevnarayan is responsible for business development: “As a local supplier, we have seen our sales explode, and that is why we are expanding our production capacities, in order to become the biggest factory on the continent. Our company has seen approximately a 500% increase in demand for our turnkey projects over the past 12 months. It is therefore difficult, for the moment, to meet this demand, but we are implementing strategies to achieve this over the next few months. » ► To read also: In the midst of an energy crisis, South Africa is delaying its exit from coal Load shedding has also increased the level of knowledge of the population, as observed by Vivian Blümel, founder of the Green Solar Academy which offers trainings all over the continent: “It kind of forced people to be interested in this technology. And now everyone knows what an inverter is, or how batteries work. This knowledge has really grown among the general public, and I think we have to, within the renewable energy sector, try to maintain such an interest. » Out of reach However, despite the first aid from the government put in place this year, the solar solution is still out of reach for the most modest. Claude Baissac, of the Eunomix cabinet, pleads for measures such as a reduction in VAT, in order to make the panels more accessible: “It is a country where we see de facto privatization, but this privatization is only for the benefit of those who have the means to detach themselves, to separate themselves, to free themselves from the collapse of the capacities of the State. At the beginning of the year, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that it would soon be possible for individuals to sell their surplus energy to Eskom.
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