Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) report dissects why African solar sector is growing

The Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) has published its first annual Africa Solar Outlook to help solar professionals keep track and better navigate the fast-evolving solar environment across the continent. The report presents basic key information about solar energy for more than 50 African countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe. It is reviewing country-by-country total installed PV, current tariffs for grid electricity, electrification rate, policies and regulation. Among other topics VAT on PV components, net-metering, feed-in-tariffs and current developments are covered by the report. The Outlook also goes deeper into some of the main segments which compose the solar industry: large-scale projects, commercial and industrial, mini-grids and solar home systems.

It overall it can be stated that the solar industry in Africa is truly booming thanks to new and more flexible technologies brought to market, but also thanks to drastic cost reductions of both solar panels and storage solutions. These new and improved technologies now make it possible to enjoy electricity reliably and affordably where it previously simply was not possible. Solar professionals are in a position to achieve universal electrification targets across the continent, thereby impacting the living conditions of 600 million people, and at the same time boost the continental economy. To date, close to 700 GW of PV has been installed worldwide. Overall, 37 countries across the world have already installed more than 1 GW of solar. Out of these 37, only 2 African countries have installed more than one Gigawatt: South Africa (2.5 GW) and Egypt (1.6 GW).

AFSIA promotes solar power in the African region from large scale grid-connected projects to off-grid solar home systems, through hybrid systems including diesel and storage to solar water pumping, solar stoves or solar water heaters. The association is headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda.

According to AFSIA, Africa is paving its way to a bright solar future driven by the conviction that solar energy is the best ally to move forward.