• The African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) has indicated that Africa’s future for solar power is bright.
• Africa now has over 10GW of solar power installations continent-wide.
• Around 29 African nations are currently considering adding more than 100MW of solar power to their energy grids.

A new report from the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) released today during the ongoing World Future Energy Summit in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi highlights “huge continent-wide opportunities” for solar power in Africa.

The report, which includes a country-by-country breakdown of installed capacity and an analysis of the continent’s solar manufacturing potential, has significance for the loadshedding-stricken South Africa.

Where government enterprises claim to be desperately seeking alternative energy sources to assist the country’s coal-over-reliant and faltering energy grid.

Major opportunities for the future

In its report, AFSIA says the major opportunities lie in four key segments – commercial and industrial (C&I), green hydrogen products, solar-powered mobility, and the productive use of energy to realise Africa’s potential.

In the C&I segment, which accounted for 28 percent of newly installed capacity in 2022, representing a growth of around two-thirds on 2021 capacity, is currently led by South Africa.

AFSIA says C&I growth will continue across the continent with more than 5 GW of projects under development, translating to almost half of Africa’s total installed capacity.

The report singles out green energy as a high-potential sector as Africa generally has high amounts of solar radiation compared to say, European countries, providing some of the best criteria for green hydrogen production which currently represents five times the continent’s total installed solar capacity.

Green hydrogen is one of the energy sectors currently being looked at as part of South Africa’s ongoing Just Energy Transition (JET) initiative. In November last year, South Africa signed a deal with the United Kingdom for the transfer of funds and expertise to explore green hydrogen generation in the country.

Solar-powered mobility has also been identified as a key opportunity area with “the exponential growth of electric mobility across the continent.”

Electric motorbikes are now providing lower-cost transport across the continent, especially in countries like Kenya where courier services are increasingly turning to EVs to reduce costs. The report notes a current cross-continental boom in switching to EVs is in turn fuelling increased demand for solar power.

Finally, the new solar segment of Productive Use of Energy (PUE), which is the use of solar home systems and mini-grids, is singled out in AFSIA’s report as an opportunity for growth. That particular sector is becoming increasingly mainstream in South Africa amid the consistent power outages but due to its costly nature, only a small percentage of the popular can access it.

This is why the report indicates that there is a growing clamour for more to be done to empower people with revenue-generating solutions in this regard.

African nations increasingly lean towards solar power

A major positive report note is the growing spread of solar adoption across the continent, which AFSIA says is no longer limited to the hot spots of South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt.

A total of 49 African countries are now said to be considering at least 1 MW of solar installations and 29 on more than 100 MW.

“Africa is now home to more than 10 GW of identified solar projects and this is another symbolic milestone for the continent,” said AFSIA CEO John van Zuylen.

“The Forum has unveiled some great news for the people of Africa who increasingly have access to clean and reliable power, and for the industry as a whole which is expanding its continental footprint,” commented Leen Alsebai, Head of World Future Energy Summit, and General Manager of Summit organiser RX Middle East.

“This is also a very positive industry trend, which has the potential to deliver economies of scale through network effects and inspire local companies and technicians to further expand solar businesses, growing employment opportunities.”

[Image – Zbynek Burival on Unsplash]