South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) programme manager Niveshen Govender has been elected to serve as director on the Global Solar Council (GSC) board.

The GSC was established during the twenty-first Conference of Parties climate dialogue, held in Paris, France, in 2015. It represents the solar industry from countries including the US, France, China, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Israel, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

“SAPVIA was a founding member of the GSC because we recognised early on the need to coordinate world solar energy efforts. Our relationship with other experienced members on the GSC has allowed us to leverage their experience to develop our own solar capacity,” says Govender.

The position “is a fantastic opportunity to show the rest of the world what we have to offer. South Africa remains an important gateway into the rest of Africa, and particularly when it comes to solar,” he adds.

“An example is the [photovoltaic] PV GreenCard that we developed in partnership with the [German international development agency] Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and German Solar Industry Association and [German solar PV company] BSW-Solar, as well as other local and international renewable bodies such as GreenCape and the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre.”

Govender says that, despite political uncertainty in South Africa, the country’s rich solar resources mean that it is still looked upon as a good destination for investment in solar.

“The rapidly developing local industry can learn a great deal from our international partners and the seat on the board will help turn global eyes towards South Africa’s solar potential,” he notes.

Job creation has always been a personal passion of Govender’s and one of the major goals of the GSC is to create ten-milllion jobs in solar globally by 2030 – something that he is eager to contribute towards.