Solar Obligation for Public Buildings in Namibia (2007)

Submitted by Baerbel Epp on July 2, 2009

Namibia has successfully implemented a directive in 2007 which requires SWH on all new public buildings, on existing public buildings without water heaters and existing public buildings with electric geysers. Namibia could reduce its peak electricity demand by almost 20 MW thanks to this directive. Find more details about the solar obligation in the following table.

City / country	Namibia
Name	Code of Practise on Solar Water Heater for public and parastatal buildings
Goal	To reduce the number of poor-quality products and poor manufacturing, by setting minimum requirements for the quality level of products; furthermore, to fulfil the given goals stated by the NAMREP programme and the White Paper on Energy Policy
Date when directive passed	August 2007
Date when directive came into effect	August 2007, together with the NAMREP Programme and it’s Off Grid Energisation Masterplan for Namibia
Target group	New public / parastatal buildings or constructions All additions to existing public / parastatal buildings without water heaters All public / parastatal buildings with electric geysers
Special requirements	System requirements: Solar water heaters are to be of the closed circuit/indirect type, using heat exchange with a drinking water storage tank. No drinking water is to be circulated directly through the collectors (i.e., no indirect systems). In a close-coupled system, heating is to operate under a natural thermo siphon principle. The SWH system has to be able to deliver hot water through the use of solar radiation energy alone; one has to be able to heat up its full-rated storage tank capacity of hot water from 20°C to at least 55°C during a nominal sunshine day (1,000 W/m²) at any location in Namibia. Solar water heaters are to possess a warranty for manufacturing defects, faulty material / workmanship and leakage from corrosion over a minimum of five years, if installed according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Exceptions:	The directive aims at public and parastatal buildings, not private households. Statement from the Off-Grid Masterplan: Solar Water Heaters (SWH) were largely omitted from the list of technologies, despite their proven value as a thermal energy technology for water heating, since it is assumed that the majority of rural off-grid households do not have piped water in their homes.
Last review of this tabloid	June 2009
Further information	www.mme.gov.na
Contact	Ministry of Mines and Energy 1 Aviation Road Private Bag 13297 Windhoek Namibia Tel: +264-61- 284 8111 Fax: +264-61- 238643 / 220386 E-mail: info@mme.gov.na

Domestic Hot Water and Heating