Nolwazi ZuluImage source, Nolwazi Zulu
Image caption, Nolwazi Zulu, an electrical power engineer, wants to do her bit to stop South Africa experiencing blackouts

The young engineer says that when she was a teenager, she decided to do something about the power cuts.

She is from rural Kwazulu-Natal on the east coast of South Africa.

Since 2008, her home province has had to endure frequent power cuts.

South Africa's aging, state-owned power grid has been the cause of this.

The South African government is trying to increase the amount of solar-power generation in the country. Firms in the industry are encouraged to tender for contracts.

An Art Solar farm near the South African coastImage source, Art Solar
Image caption, South Africa has perfect weather for solar power

It would like to have enough solar power to provide electricity for one million homes. There is a desire to increase wind power generation by 1,600megawatts.

Wind is the main source of power in South Africa. In a country that gets an average of eight to 10 hours of sun per day compared with the UK's four, solar makes up just 0.9% of the total.

Art Solar is the only South African-owned company that makes solar panels. "African Renewable Technology" is what the word art means.

Ms Zulu is studying for a degree in electrical power engineering at the University of Technology, but she still works in the design team at this company.

She says that solar panels can bring power to rural homes that are not connected to the mains.

A worker at Art Solar's factory in DurbanImage source, Art Solar
Image caption, Art Solar recently opened a new production facility at its site in Durban

She wants to open an Art Solar branch in her hometown of Ulundi. It is cheaper and will change a lot of people's lives.

Bosch granted Art Solar a licence to build solar panels. The panels are made in partnership with Talesun, a German company.

According to the general manager, the government's solar push has given the company the confidence to open a new facility that can produce 650,000 panels per year.

It supplies private homes and businesses even though its panels are more expensive than lower quality imports that don't face import tariffs.

Mr Gosai says that covid-19 and lock downs were bad. The positive is that it made people proud.

People are loyal and want to buy local.

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Art Solar provided the solar panels for a private hospital in South Africa. The hospital is protected from power cuts.

Zola Electric has a solution to power supply that ignores national grids. It wants to create mini-grids for villages and other communities instead of connecting solar panel farms to nationwide power systems.

A Zola worker in RwandaImage source, Zola Energy
Image caption, Zola Energy builds mini-grids, with solar panels powering villages

Bill said we need to move beyond legacy ways of thinking about energy access in Africa.

People in emerging markets are starting to think that having a single energy grid may not work.

Everyone was talking about building a grid. You are not building grids, right?

People in Africa don't have access to grids because it's a flawed technology for emerging markets. It's not controversial to say this anymore.

Jay Naidoo, a former government minister under Nelson Mandela, supports the idea of separate mini- grids for 20% of South African households that aren't connected to the grid.

Jay NaidooImage source, Getty Images
Image caption, Jay Naidoo thinks mini-grids could be the solution for South Africa's most rural communities

He is a Trustee and resident of the Earthrise Trust.

The aim is to empower rural communities, particularly women and the youth. The farm's self-sufficient nature is being halted by power.

Imagine if we could have a community-owned, micro-solar grid. Community-owned assets could be created.

Earthlife Africa has advocated for more renewable power in the country.

Lekalakala says they missed out on investing in solar. If we had a crisis, we would be out of it.

Makoma LekalakalaImage source, Makoma Lekalakala
Image caption, Makoma Lekalakala, centre, is a well-known South African environmentalist

We have used the narrative that we have coal and it is the baseline.

She said that South Africa should have moved towards solar long ago.

The Department of Mining Resources and Energy did not reply to the request.

Art Solar is planning to open a branch in her community as a result of the increase in production.

Mr Gosai believes in the future of solar power. A lot of daylight hours means a high return on investment. Our people stand behind us.

  • Solar power
  • South Africa
  • Renewable energy