From humble beginnings in the Eastern Cape five years ago, PiA Solar – a designer, manufacturer and installer of mounting systems for the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry – has grown into a major African structures supplier, with over 460 MW supplied and/or installed to date.
The full range of mounting structures for the PV industry from PiA Solar includes ground anchors, a turnkey Contour+ single-axis tracker, a Contour+ fixed-tilt system, mounting clamps for all rooftop types, carport structures, terraced systems and other hardware, such as purlins and safety systems. PiA Solar also supplies First Solar-approved clamps for the company’s thin-film modules, which are designed and manufactured locally.
With its head office in Port Elizabeth and offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, PiA Solar saw its revenue grow tenfold during the past financial year, with similar growth expected during the current year. This revenue growth has mirrored the exponential growth of the South African solar industry during the past few years, driven primarily by the Department of Energy’s highly successful Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and an increase in the cost of electricity.
During the past six months, the ISO 9001-certified company concurrently completed the installation of Contour+ fixed-tilt systems at the 90 MWp De Aar solar farm, in the Northern Cape, and the 86.25 MWp Prieska plant, also in the Northern Cape, as well as a Contour+ tracker at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s 558 kWp solar plant near Pretoria.