Survey Of Energy Resources
SOLAR ENERGY


NORWAY

The majority of Norway’s commercial solar market consists of off-grid PV systems. At end-1999 a total of about 75 000 systems had been installed, mostly in recreational cabins. The panels, used for re-charging batteries for lighting, are typically 50-60 W in size.

In addition, the Norwegian coastal service has installed some 2 200 solar beacons along the coast. It is planned that all off-grid lighthouses will be thus supplied in the future.

SOUTH AFRICA

The annual global solar radiation average received by South Africa is approximately 5.5 kWh/m2/day, one of the highest national levels in the world. The resource began to be utilised to a limited extent from the early 1980’s, when a PV industry was established. PV modules are now widely used for powering the telecommunications network and are also applied in small-scale remote stand-alone power supplies in domestic situations, game farms, water pumping etc.

In 1994 the newly elected government of national unity launched their Reconstruction & Development Programme and thereby accelerated the trend for PV installations. In the same year Eskom undertook to electrify 1.75 million homes by 2000: a figure that was achieved by end-1999. A three-year target for a further 600 000 connections was then set. In a country where a vast number of households are too distant to be considered for an interconnection to the grid, PV systems are a cost-effective solution. At the beginning of 1999 the first Powerhouse system in the world’s largest commercial solar rural electrification project was launched in the Eastern Cape. The project, a joint venture between Eskom and Shell Renewables, will provide a solar panel, a charge-controlled battery and a security and metering unit for 50 000 homes.

At the beginning of 2000, the Department of Minerals and Energy published a consultative draft document, Implementation Strategy for Renewable Energy in South Africa. Within the overall renewable energy scene for the short to medium term, the Strategy outlined the main thrusts for solar energy:

  • the launching of a non-grid electrification programme as an integral element of the National Electrification Programme. Photovoltaic solar home systems should be installed in at least 1.5 million homes within 10 years with a continuance of the project thereafter. Electrification projects already under way for rural schools and health clinics would be integrated into the programme;
  • the introduction and use of passive solar building design so that, in particular, houses being built as part of the national housing programme could achieve greater thermal efficiency. In addition to new housing, it is planned to extend better design to commercial and government buildings;
  • the development and implementation of a long-term programme aimed at the widespread use of solar water heating, thus reducing the need for additional power plants;
  • the long-term commercial dissemination of solar cookers;
  • the South African technological base is being used to study the possible development of solar thermal power generation in the Northern Cape area. Eskom (together with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the national, provincial and Namibian governments) has already conducted preliminary studies of Solar Trough technology, Sterling Dish technology and Solar Power Tower technology. It is envisaged that a feasibility study will be undertaken on a grid-connected Solar Thermal installation.

Country Notes (SOLAR ENERGY)

Australia || Canada || China || France || Germany || India || Indonesia || Israel || Italy || Japan || Kenya || Korea (Republic) || Mexico || Netherlands || Norway || South Africa || Spain || Switzerland || Thailand || United States Of America