Solar power in South Africa includes

photovoltaics Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...

(PV) as well as

concentrated solar power Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when ...

(CSP). In 2016, South Africa had 1,329 MW of installed solar power capacity. Installed capacity is expected to reach 8,400 MW by 2030. In 2014 several solar farms were commissioned, including the 96 MW

Jasper Solar Energy Project The Jasper Solar Energy Project (or Jasper PV Project) is a 96 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power station, located 120 km west of Kimberley, in South Africa's Northern Cape. Construction of the project was completed in October 2014 and it is fully ...

, one of Africa's largest

photovoltaic power station A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building ...

s providing enough

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...

for 30,000 homes.

Solar resource

The total solar potential of South Africa by area exceeds the level of 1,600 kWh / m2.

Government programs

As of 1 January 2016 the South African government gave a tax incentive through the

South African Revenue Service The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the revenue service of the South African government. It administers the country's tax system and customs service, and enforces compliance with related legislation. It is governed by the SARS Act 34 of ...

for the installation of photovoltaic solar energy generation systems. Depending on the size defined in MW_p ( Megawatt peak) of the photovoltaic solar system, the amended section 12 B of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 stipulates the size of the tax shield available through

accelerated depreciation Accelerated depreciation refers to any one of several methods by which a company, for 'financial accounting' or tax purposes, depreciates a fixed asset in such a way that the amount of depreciation taken each year is higher during the earlier year ...

to the commercial tax paying entity. Photovoltaic solar systems smaller or equal to 1 MW_p can be depreciated in one year, granting the commercial tax paying entity a 28% discount on the system. The tax shield applies even if the photovoltaic solar system is installed mid-year or if the system is not new. A repayment time of one year and ongoing electricity savings for the remainder of the system's lifetime can be achieved by financing a portion of the cost of the system. Photovoltaic solar systems greater than 1 MW_p are depreciated with the schedule 50%, 30%, and 20% in the first 3 years respectively.

Adoption and government conflict of interest

Despite this aggressive tax incentive, South African companies are slow to adopt grid-connected photovoltaic solar systems due to the lack of public dialogue from the government concerning photovoltaic solar energy. The lack of public dialog is partially due to the conflict that arises between the government, its state-owned enterprise Eskom, the local renewable energy sector as well as international obligations such as the

Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part ...

and the

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and ...

of which South Africa is a signatory. The state-owned electricity utility

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...

that provides 90% (85% from coal) of South Africa's electricity and depends on electricity sales to function. Due to alleged corruption and mismanagement of funds in the years leading up to 2017, Eskom has been forced to increase tariffs by 340% over 10 years. Despite this tariff increase Eskom is in poor financial health as of 2017. The utility has stated that the increase in renewable energy generation directly impacts its revenue stream, which makes it difficult for it to meet its debt obligations. A government bailout has not been ruled out. The utility, relying mainly on coal-fired power stations also fears that renewable energy generation will directly impact coal jobs. Through its holding in Eskom, the South African government is dependent on Eskom's revenue stream to avoid a bailout with public funds.

Municipal programs

In addition to the government tax incentive for photovoltaic solar energy generation, certain municipalities have further incentives for residential and commercial customers, such as a

feed-in tariff A feed-in tariff (FIT, FiT, standard offer contract,Couture, T., Cory, K., Kreycik, C., Williams, E., (2010)Policymaker's Guide to Feed-in Tariff Policy Design National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy advanced renewable tariff, ...

net metering Net metering (or net energy metering, NEM) is an electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime, instead of when it is generated. This is particularly importa ...

Operational and projected plants

The 50 MW Touwsrivier CPV Solar Project concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) power plant was constructed in Touwsrivier, in Western Cape, South Africa in December 2014. A 75 MW solar power plant started production on September 13, 2013 in Kalkbult, in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi ...

(implemented by Scatec). Two other PV plants were completed by the same company in 2014. These are located at Linde in the Northern Cape and Dreunberg in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

, both sun drenched regions boasting some of the best conditions for solar power in the world. Altogether, these 3 plants provide power for around 90,000 South African households. Sonnedix and Juwi have announced that they will construct an 86 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the

province. The Mulilo Sonnedix plant in

Prieska Prieska is a town on the south bank of the Orange River, in the province of the Northern Cape, in western South Africa. It is located on the southern bank of the Orange River, 130 km north-west of Britstown and 75 km south-east of Maryd ...

plant will be larger than any PV plant currently on line in the African continent, and was awarded through the third round of the South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP). Financial close on the project is targeted for July 2014, with commissioning planned for the second half of 2016.

Iberdrola Iberdrola () is a Spanish multinational electric utility company based in Bilbao, Spain. Iberdrola has a workforce of around 34,000 employees serving around 31.67 million customers. Subsidiaries include Scottish Power (United Kingdom) ...

has completed the

solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant, which at 96 MW is the largest in Africa, the company announced. It was carried out in a desert area with extreme temperatures and involved the installation of over 325,000 PV modules. This PV plant is located in

province in a remote, semi-desert location. It covers a surface area equivalent to 205 football pitches.

Acciona Acciona, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational conglomerate dedicated to the development and management of infrastructure (construction, water, industrial and services) and renewable energy. The company, via subsidiary Acciona Energy, produces 21 te ...

has put the Sishen solar photovoltaic (PV) plant into service in December 2014. It has a peak capacity of 94.3 megawatts (MWp) – 74 nominal MW – and is located in Dibeng in the

province. Its horizontal tracking structures allow the PV panels to capture more radiation by following the sun's trajectory across the sky. The plant will produce electricity equivalent to the consumption of around 100,000 South African households, or around 420,000 people (2011 South African household size = 3.6 persons). As of January 2015 a total of 593 MW produced from PV plants were connected to the grid. A consortium led by ACWA Power International (Saudi Arabia) has completed commissioning of a 50 MW concentrating solar power ( CSP) project in South Africa's Northern Cape in Dec-2015. The Bokpoort CSP project includes 9.3 hours of thermal energy storage, which will allow it to meet demand during peak hours between 5 and 9 PM. ACWA describes this system as the largest thermal storage system ever built for a CSP plant of its size and capacity. The South African solar power plant has set a new African record (26 April 2016) for the continuous, round the clock supply of electricity. Two CSP plants are being built by Abengoa in the

. Khi Solar One is a Solar Tower plant of 50 MW capacity near

Upington Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of ...

and Kaxu Solar One is a Parabolic Trough plant of 100 MW capacity near

Pofadder Pofadder is the Afrikaans name for Bitis arietans, puff adder (snake). Pofadder may also refer to: * Pofadder, Northern Cape, a small town in South Africa * Pofadder (food), a traditional South African food made from the same ingredients as Skilpa ...

with storage capability for 3 hours. Xina Solar One has a total installed capacity of 100 MW, also near Pofadder.

Solar thermal energy

The South African government requires renewable energy to replace 10,000 GWh of electricity by 2013. The Department of Energy estimates that 23% of this target can be met through solar water heating and

is therefore actively encouraging consumers to switch to solar water heating. According to the International Energy Agency, at the end of 2016, the cumulative installed capacity of solar thermal collectors in South Africa reached 1,336 MWth, or 1.91 Mm2 (million m2) of sensors, very far behind the world leader: China (324,510 MWth) and the United States (17,686 MWth); South Africa ranked 19th in the world with 0.3% of the world total, but 1st in Africa. The South African market was 88.4 MWth of new installations in 2016, or only 0.2% of the global market. South African solar thermal saved 146.5 kTep of energy and 472 kT CO2eq in 2016.Solar Heat Worldwide 2018
(pages 35, 36 and 38),

International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector, with a recent focus on curbing car ...

- Solar Heating and Cooling Programme, May 2018.

Residential solar PV

South Africa has experienced an increase in the installation of solar PV since 1992. The low electricity

tariffs A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and po ...

offered by

prior to 2010 has led to a recently rapid installation increase. The shift in installations can be seen across all segments of consumers including industrial, agricultural, commercial and residential. There are predictions that indicate that there would be a continuous decline in the cost of

Solar PV A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and co ...

well beyond 2020. The steady decline in solar PV and battery storage costs creates for an increasingly attractive business case to support self ownership with backup intervention and storage in the absence of grid-based power. The statistics for the absorption of solar PV presently can barely be regarded as comprehensive or official considering the fact that they are based on industry estimates. Installation numbers remain unclear because of the absence of an official or effective Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG2) registration process for low-voltage connected customers. Although the National

Energy Regulator An infinite switch, simmerstat, energy regulator or infinite controller is a type of switch that allows variable power output of a heating element of an electric stove. It is called "infinite" because its average output is infinitely variable rather ...

of South Africa (NERSA) confirmed that they will be initiating a formal national registration process for SSEG, chances are they may only be fully operational in the next 2 to 3 years. However, certain

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

have initiated their own registration processes to allow connection to their distribution grid infrastructure. "The South African

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

(DoE) has recently released Schedule 2 to the Electricity Act of 2006 which revised the

licensing A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

and registration requirements for categories of generators. In accordance with these new rules, generators smaller than 1MW are exempted from having to obtain a license but need to be registered with NERSA." An approximately 285MWP5 (DC) of small scale solar PV (rooftop and ground-mounted) was installed in South Africa as at December 2017 according to the data received from different sources. The total number of installations equates up to 139,556 units. The installation of small to medium scale solar PV leads to a market share percentage of 0.65% of the total national generation capacity of 44.134GW6. "In addition to these grid-based installations, there are 87,150

off-grid Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical g ...

systems with a total installed capacity of 14.35MWP." Low and middle-income

households A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

have partially participated in the growing uptake of solar PV (SSEG) systems in South Africa for reasons pertaining to affordability and access to finance. Unlike most other countries where grid-connected solar PV technologies are released to low-income households mostly on full or partial subsidization, PV implementation initiatives of such kind in South Africa are targeted generally toward households lacking

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describe ...

. Middle-income households with average earnings of $351.52 to $703.04 per month have better

purchasing power Purchasing power is the amount of goods and services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if one had taken one unit of currency to a store in the 1950s, it would have been possible to buy a greater number of items than would ...

. "They generally have improved security of

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

and greater access to electricity".

Middle-income The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...

households consume twice as much electricity as

low-income Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

households. Although middle-income households earn more than twice the average monthly income of low-middle households, it would yet be difficult for the majority to qualify for the loan necessary to purchase a system. Meanwhile, a South African residential solar PV company calle
WiSolar
is said to be "providing solar

financing Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm use ...

to homeowners in South Africa in an effort to make rooftop Solar PV systems affordable for households across the country." The Wisolar "financing allows consumers to purchase their desired solar system through a six-year payment path to ownership." In June 2020, WiSolar had installed approximately 9MW of residential solar power in South Africa, providing enough clean power for 3000 homes. In 2014, a multinational company by the name JA Solar Holdings which is headquartered in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

began working with local construction companies in South Africa to provide small-scale rooftop Solar PV systems to the

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...

of several South African cities. These systems were installed on the roof of low-income households. With these JA Solar systems, the house dwellers were able to have access to free electricity from their roofs.

Statistics

References

External links

*
SESSA

Renewable Energy South Africa Solar Power Article

www.eskom.co.za
—

* http://www.energy.gov.za/ —

www.nersa.org.za/
— National Energy Regulator
Energy Blog - Renewable Energy Power Plants Database
{{Renewable energy by country