Eskom

In early August, South Africa's national utility, Eskom, convened a workshop for solar water heating manufacturers, suppliers and installers. The primary objective of the workshop was to advise the industry on what to do about the remaining budget for the solar water heating rebate scheme, as well as which immediate steps to take until the end of the 2011-2012 financial year. Quality issues of currently installed systems were also discussed (see the attached presentation). The chart shows the strong increase in the number of applications for non-pressurised (NP) solar water heaters.
Source: Eskom

There has been no decision yet regarding the future of the national residential incentive programme by South African utility Eskom: As of 12 July 2011, the utility counted a backlog of all in all 53,208 applications. This is more than half of the number of all applications approved since the beginning of the programme in 2007 (84,214 application). 76 % of the applications that are still pending approval deal with open loop systems. Closed loop systems make up the smaller proportion, with 12,644 still pending applications.

South African company Ikhwezi Solar (Pty) Ltd announced in mid-July that its new solar thermal flat plate manufacturing plant has become fully operational. The factory's annual production capacity is 22,000 collectors, which are manufactured on a single shift basis. Before starting its own collector production, the company based in East London, at the southeast coast of South Africa, had specialised in supplying and installing solar thermal collectors for both South Africa's commercial and domestic market. “We decided to capitalise on the momentum created in South Africa, with the focus having moved much to renewable energy,” Executive Director of Ikhwezi Solar, Pieter Bosch, explains.
Photo: Ikhwezi Solar

Thirty seven solar water heating industry leaders and academics have just attended the third SOLTRAIN (Southern African Solar Thermal Training and Demonstration Initiative) solar thermal technical training course in Pretoria, South Africa. The training was formally opened by the regional coordinator of the programme, Professor Dieter Holm. In opening, Holm emphasized the value of the hands-on approach to the course under the guidance of a number of eminent experts in the field. The delegates represented a balanced mix from industry and academia.
Photo: Omnibus Engineering

The number of monthly installed and subsidised solar thermal installations in South African households increased significantly towards the end of 2010. According to Eskom, energy utility and administrator of the national residential subsidy programme, 4,914 claims were paid in December. This compares favourably to the approximate 250 systems that were installed in the same period in 2009, and represents a significant increase as can be seen from the graph. Eskom is not updating the above chart anymore with monthly figures.
Source: Eskom/SESSA

Commercial systems are gaining importance in South Africa: A recent market survey by national energy provider Eskom estimates that 15% of the installed collector area in 2009 were part of large-scale solar thermal systems.
Photo: Solar Beam

Short-term insurer Santam confirmed at the beginning of March that its residential clients would be able to replace damaged electrical geysers with solar water heaters, following a partnership with national power utility Eskom. When replacing a damaged geyser, the South African insurer allows its clients to choose between different solar-heated alternatives during the claim process. It is actually the first South African insurance company to promote renewable energy in that way.

Solar thermal installation in Soweto: Eskom's Renewable Energy Portfolio Manager, Cedric Worthmann, said that, “Our aim is to encourage as many South Africans as possible to move away from using electric geysers and replace them with solar heated systems instead”.
Source: www.solarheat.co.za

This guide was made to help consumers applying for a Eskom Solar Water Heating Rebate Programme. This rebate programme was set-up by the South African Government to increase the share of renewable energies on the final energy consumption to 10 000 gigawatt hours by 2013.

The guide includes a series of steps that should be taken into account applying for the Eskom rebate scheme, the documents necessary for the application, the systems that are qualified for the rebate and other practical information.

90 % of South Africa’s electricity is generated by coal-fired power stations. The fourth quarter of 2007, however, started with massive power cuts as electricity supply fell behind demand. Eskom, the largest electricity supplier in Africa, the South African Government and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), began to implement alternative and renewable energy programmes a year later. Among these is a rebate programme for solar water heaters.