Africa's solar panel imports surge

[Hanno Labuschagne]

Africa's solar panel imports surge

African nations are ordering more solar panels from China, with imports of the clean-energy technology surging 60% in the 12 months through June, according to climate think tank Ember.

While South Africa remained the biggest importer, 20 other countries on the continent posted record purchases over the period.

[Bloomberg]

 

[TrueSeeker]

And then some still have the gall to think Africa will languish as a retirement village for the global fossil fuels industries' twilight years.

No.

No. We will leapfrog technologies for energy and transportation. As we did in several other instances. For a better tomorrow.

 

[denmendez65]

And then some still have the gall to think Africa will languish as a retirement village for the global fossil fuels industries' twilight years.

No.

No. We will leapfrog technologies for energy and transportation. As we did in several other instances. For a better tomorrow.

Maybe its because African gvts are not as efficient as other places. So things like Solar that can be done on a small scale make more sense in Africa.

To do fossil fuels you need the gvts to build powerstations. That aint happening.

 

[RaptorSA]

Maybe its because African gvts are not as efficient as other places. So things like Solar that can be done on a small scale make more sense in Africa.

To do fossil fuels you need the gvts to build powerstations. That aint happening.

One of the few benefits of necessity breeding cheaper alternatives.
I regularly laugh at these youtube videos showing up in my feed about lower and middle class Americans moaning about their quality of life tanking as things get more expensive and they start realising the days of playing life on easy mode is over.

Saw someone the other day moaning about how their power bill was $800.
Err... yeah with a $500 to $800 dollar bill per month you can build and pay off a massive solar system in no time and be self-sufficient, they don't even pay the insane taxes on those imports like we do, and their only real problem is the cost of labour over there... the thought didn't even enter their minds.

Drill baby drill, drill in jou m*er in.

 

[TrueSeeker]

Maybe its because African gvts are not as efficient as other places. So things like Solar that can be done on a small scale make more sense in Africa.

To do fossil fuels you need the gvts to build powerstations. That aint happening.

Governments building power stations is an anachronism. Some places less so than others.

The last fossil fuel power stations our gov in SA could have been said to have built were Medupi and Kusile. And it will stay that way. The news is in - It's a dead waste. Abominable ROE, abominable LCEO. And really, it's the same everywhere. Even China. Even if the gov there has funny money to throw at building power stations - That doesn't mean that it's being done profitably. It's more a security investment than an economic one. They're running all those new coal stations on idle.

Everywhere already, for new fossil fuel energy to get any financial slack, something's got to give somewhere else, and with that I mean citizen interest concerns. For renewable energy the only interests that need give at all, is old energy.

 

[RaptorSA]

Even China. Even if the gov there has funny money to throw at building power stations - That doesn't mean that it's being done profitably. It's more a security investment than an economic one. They're running all those new coal stations on idle.

Correct, they had supply issues during the COVID years due to a massive increase in heatwaves and resulting aircon usage.
They had to spin up loads of coal power stations quickly to meet the demand but knew those were money pits and are now either getting rid of them or keeping them mostly on standby.

I see China is having problem now with oversupply on solar panels so lots of companies being unprofitable, it's great time to buy while the prices are rock bottom, seems like Africa has noticed.

 

[denmendez65]

Correct, they had supply issues during the COVID years due to a massive increase in heatwaves and resulting aircon usage.
They had to spin up loads of coal power stations quickly to meet the demand but knew those were money pits and are now either getting rid of them or keeping them mostly on standby.

I see China is having problem now with oversupply on solar panels so lots of companies being unprofitable, it's great time to buy while the prices are rock bottom, seems like Africa has noticed.

When you have 560W panels going for R1200 it is definitely a good idea to get as much when doing an install.

 

[RaptorSA]

When you have 560W panels going for R1200 it is definitely a good idea to get as much when doing an install.

I'm still blown away by the fact that you can buy top quality 600W+ bifacial panels now for anywhere from R1.5K to R1.7K.
That's 10-20 years of stable power delivery from that panel, even if you lived on a cloudy island like the UK, it's a steal!

 

[denmendez65]

I'm still blown away by the fact that you can buy top quality 600W+ bifacial panels now for anywhere from R1.5K to R1.7K.
That's 10-20 years of stable power delivery from that panel, it's a steal!

Well most are guaranteed at 20 to 25. An you still get some 85% of the output after that.