Ener-G-Africa opens women-led 15 MW/y small solar panel assembly plant in Cape Town
Energy company Ener-G-Africa (EGA) launched its new 15 MW/y women-led solar panel assembly plant, in Cape Town, on February 2. The $1.5-million, 800 m2 plant is manufacturing solar panels for use with advanced biomass stoves, as well as for the regional African market and overseas exports.
“This solar assembly facility was built with a focus on making smaller solar panels to serve low-income households across sub-Saharan Africa. It is a small solar panel plant that has been certified by TÜV Rheinland, which means that some of Africa's poorest communities will have access to solar with the highest quality certification available,” said EGA CEO André Moolman.
“Typically, major solar panel manufacturers will produce bigger panels targeted at utility-scale projects and larger business and residential installations, while small solar panels intended for Africa are often inconsistent and inferior.
“Higher quality small solar panels can be found in the Americas and Europe, but at much higher prices that would not be affordable for low-income households in Africa,” he noted.
The plant has created 53 jobs, will operate 24 hours a day, five days a week, and the plant manager and employees are all women.
“Factory workers in all sectors are predominantly men and we wanted to give the employment opportunity to women from previously disadvantaged communities,” said Moolman.
“Small panels are generally more time consuming and difficult to make than larger panels, and the result is that they are more expensive per watt to make than a larger panel. However, high quality and low price are our priorities for our customer base that usually only has access to high-price, low-quality panels,” said EGA Cape Town facility plant manager René Salmon.
The 20 W panels will sell for $18 each. In addition to domestic South African sales, the panels will also be distributed to Malawi, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. The plant is uniquely focused on small solar panels and EGA will increase the size of the plant to scale with demand, the company added.
Aluminium for the frames is purchased locally, as well as the wiring, junction boxes, adhesives and packaging.
South Africa has the skills that are necessary to run the plant readily available, while Cape Town provides EGA with access to a port, which is a logistical advantage for raw material imports and finished product exports, said Moolman.
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