South African companies innovate to tackle solar power inequality

Studying is a race against time for Reginald van Wyk as he tries to finish his online coursework before scheduled daily power cuts make learning impossible.

A member of the Cape Town Society for the Blind (CTSB), the 43 year old is studying computer skills through the charity, which offers support and training to about 120 blind and visually impaired people.

“We don’t need light … but we need power to listen to our audio course work on the computer,” Van Wyk said.

“Our studies have been impacted.”

Blackouts intended to take pressure off the ailing power grid run by struggling state-owned utility Eskom have worsened since early last year, leaving people without electricity for up to 10 hours each day and hindering charities like CTSB.

ALSO READ: Lesufi’s programme will create bright solar future for pupils

As part of national efforts to tackle the energy crisis, the government in March created a new post – minister of electricity – and handed it to Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

His plans include extending the life of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations and maintaining large outlays on diesel for emergency open-cycle gas turbines. He has also vowed to auction more than 15 000 megawatts of renewable energy project tenders – capacity equal to powering 9.75 million homes, according to Eskom estimates that 1MW can supply about 650 homes.

Solar power systems

In the meantime, individuals, organisations and private companies who can afford it are rushing to buy solar power systems. The cost puts constant power out of reach for many citizens and small firms, though, causing lost earnings, business closures and job losses.

For households earning less than R800 a month, access to solar power grew to 3% in 2021, from 0.3% in 2015, according to the Gauteng City-Region Observatory, a university-based research partnership.

ALSO READ: Thumbs up to Lesufi’s solar bid

In the highest income group, those earning more than R51 200 monthly, solar access rose to 12% from 4% over the same period, the research found. Some companies are financing innovations to support citizens or charities through portable or pay-as-you-go solar systems.

CTSB, for example, will soon get solar panels and battery storage through support from online solar marketplace Sun Exchange and cash from reinsurance company Hannover Re.

Companies ‘playing significant role’

Hleziphi Siyothula-Mtshizana, founder of energy services company In Pursuit Renewable Energy, said companies are “moving away from just donating food parcels to communities”.

“Corporates are playing a significant role in transitioning the [energy] industry to be more inclusive,” she told a solar power conference last month.

CTSB head Judith Coetzee approached Sun Exchange after seeing the company help schools, housing estates and farms.

Sun Exchange enables individual buyers to purchase solar cells with cash or bitcoin for crowdfunded projects in emerging economies and then lease them to schools, businesses and other organisations, which pay the investors for the power.

ALSO READ: All your questions about solar power answered

The company recently began partnering with businesses to encourage them to use their social investment budgets to sponsor or invest in “measurable renewable energy projects”, according to Mike Pearce, its corporate partner manager.

The CTSB and Hannover Re partnership is its third such arrangement to date, with more in the pipeline, he added.

-Context is powered by the Thomson Reuters Foundation newsroom