South Africans have embraced renewable energy, especially when it comes to solar power. While that goes for private homeowners, there has been a boom in industrial scale solar power generation in recent years.
Over the last two years, South Africa’s solar capacity has grown by between 2.5 to 3 Gigawatts, which is impressive. However, the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) reckons that the country isn’t capitalising on the solar boom as much as it could be.
One of the main areas the country could be doing more to take advantage of solar’s time in the sun is to invest in local manufacturing of photovoltaic modules, inverters, batteries, and more.
“South Africa is experiencing a solar boom, but we are not yet fully translating that momentum into local industrial growth, especially in areas of the value chain where it makes sense to do so,” says Dr Rethabile Melamu, chief executive officer of SAPVIA.
“Without urgent policy alignment and a clear, consistent demand pipeline, industrial support interventions including but not limited to long-term commitment to provision of manufacturing and tax incentives the opportunity to build a competitive local manufacturing sector could slip away. It also goes without saying that a resilient industrialisation agenda should be underpinned by reliability and affordability of electricity, which currently remains work in progress,” the CEO added.
The organisation does note that building out manufacturing capacity overnight isn’t feasible and instead the country should focus on segments where an impact could be made. This requires thought and balance, so as not to upend the entire energy ecosystem.
“We need to identify where we can compete, where we can create jobs, and how we can integrate into regional and global value chains for that reason the current proposed tariffs on components to be implemented gradually and cautiously, not to stifle energy security imperatives but strengthen local manufacturing and creating much needed jobs,” says Melamu.
In order to achieve this, there is a greater need for government to get involved and create policies that help drive the solar industry forward.
To that end, SAPVIA is calling on government to take the following actions:
“If we get the policy framework right, solar PV can drive inclusive growth, create jobs, and position the country as a leader in the regional energy economy,” Melamu concludes.
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