Recording of Wednesday, May 07, 2025 | The smarter E Europe Conferences 2025 | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 12:03 .

South Africa's Solar PV Market Sees Rapid Growth Amid Energy Insecurity and Financial Incentives

The presentation discusses the financing of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in South Africa, focusing on small-scale embedded generation. This sector has become crucial as it helps households mitigate energy insecurity issues experienced previously. The speaker represents SAPVIA, a non-profit organization promoting solar PV growth in South Africa and beyond. As of January 2023, the country had an installed capacity of about 8.8 gigawatts across various market segments; however, residential installations account for only around 0.7 gigawatts due to several enabling factors like tax incentives during load shedding periods which encouraged adoption despite their discontinuation by the government. Businesses have benefited from attractive incentives leading to increased deployments among smaller businesses and commercial facilities while buyback programs provided loans with lower interest rates aiding residential customers' accessibilities today promising future prospects remain hopeful! Unreliable electricity systems/load-shedding contributed significantly towards this growth observed key drivers include rising costs supporting regulatory frameworks amended legislation unbundling utilities reducing prices driving forces behind developments seen today! Financing options within these markets are competitive amongst banks/energy companies offering mortgages specific asset loans renewable/sustainability projects decreasing system/prices overall concluding remarks: ESCOs instrumental roles bringing down costs making accessible rent-own/rental models lease paying less actual bills owning assets end three-year periods unique Stockfell saving clubs pooling resources buying collectively replicable continent-wide initiatives infancy stages growing potential indeed lastly closing smart grids/off-grid movements driven largely Eskom installing mini-grids northern Cape province rolling plans nationwide coming years providing insights values owned equivalent seventy-five million euros showcasing size opportunities ahead!

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Speaker

Rethabile Melamu
CEO
South African Photovoltaic Industry Association
South Africa

Talk of session: Off-Grid: When Will Off-Grid PV Follow the Affordability Trend?

Photovoltaic prices have fallen continuously in recent years - a trend that should translate into a growing market for off-grid solutions. Declining costs are crucial for rural electrification in particular, making sustainable energy supply economically viable in remote regions. However, so far many of these price advantages have not yet reached the people that need them most. Do existing framework conditions to foster rural electrification still work in this new market reality? Which measures are needed to ensure that cost reductions reach our target group? This session discusses strategies for improving the availability of low-cost off-grid solutions, financing and innovative business models. A look at successful practical examples shows which political, economic and technological levers need to be pulled to make off-grid PV accessible on a large scale.

Further Talks of this session:

Welcome

Speaker

Lea Dunst
International Project Manager
BSW - German Solar Association
Germany

To Talk

BMZ Greetings

Speaker

Benjamin Knödler
Head of Private Sector Engagement
BMZ - Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
Germany

To Talk

Setting the Scene "Off-Grid"

Speaker

Jean Basson
Managing Director
eavion

To Talk

Panel Discussion

Speaker

To Talk

Q&A with the Audience

Video is not available.

Send Off

Speaker

Lea Dunst
International Project Manager
BSW - German Solar Association
Germany

Video is not available.