Sparks Electrical News November 2023

STANDBY & EMERGENCY POWER

7

South Africa’s solar energy landscape: Opportunities & missteps A fter 16 years of loadshedding, the energy crisis in South Africa is continuing seemingly unchecked. on what they think is a quick buck. “To address the lack of regulation, many of the larger suppliers of quality components, including ourselves, have either singly or successfully completing training courses,” explains Voychev. “Established companies in the electrical industry have embarked upon local

questionable quality. There needs to be a regulatory framework that protects local manufacturers to stop the profits from flowing out of the country – that would be an incentive for businesses to invest and create jobs through local manufacture.” To read the full article, visit www.sparkselectricalnewsmagazine.co.za

This has been a positive for the renewables and solar photovoltaic (PV) industry, with installations increasing exponentially every year – 2023 saw a 350% increase in the imports of PV components over 2022 alone. With that in mind, Svilen Voychev, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of solar suppliers Valsa Trading, explores the state of the PV market in South Africa. “You would think that our renewables market would be further along in its development, given how long we have been experiencing loadshedding and grid instability,” says Voychev. “What we have seen is that the crisis has given our industry a boost as the loadshedding phenomena has worsened. The realisation is that the challenge will not be solved in the short-term and there are increased concerns on climate change - the extensive uptake of PV systems has meant that component prices for solar installations have become more affordable.” Loadshedding started as a minor inconvenience, but it has spiralled into an economy-killing national crisis and international embarrassment. “This has had a significant impact on our country’s GDP (gross domestic product), exports and businesses’ ability to carry out day to-day trading. It has had a major impact on just about all aspects of our lives, and without doubt, contributed to a steep rise in the cost of living – a good example is supermarkets having to recover the hundreds of millions of Rands spent on diesel for generators, just to keep the lights on, refrigeration equipment and tills operating,” explains Valsa’s CEO. South Africa however is the perfect country to have solar PV installations, either as back-up and emergency power systems or as a complete replacement for national energy provider Eskom. “Our climate favours PV installations. South Africa has lots of space for large-scale solar farms, and the nature of solar energy generation means that there have been advances in battery storage to ensure continuity of supply when the sun does not shine,” adds Voychev. Solar has become the new “it” industry in the country, with service providers popping up on a weekly basis. This does not mean that the market has become saturated yet, adds Voychev. “There is space for newcomers to the industry, especially in the residential market. There is a downside, though – due to low barriers to entry, lack of regulation and consumer ignorance, the solar industry is fertile ground for the ‘bakkie brigade’ of opportunists.” The solar industry is worth billions and like most “new” endeavours, it has attracted its fair share of people who are hoping to cash in

manufacturing, but at this stage there is no government support, and we are unlikely to counter the massive production and research and development capabilities of mainly Chinese manufacturers – some good and others providing products of

in collaboration with others, established grass roots installer training courses to add some professionalism to the industry. In some cases, established and would-be installers are provided with incentives such as discounts on quality components upon

Enquiries: www.valsa.co.za

Svilen Voychev, Valsa Trading’s CEO.

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

NOVEMBER 2023