South African sustainable energy products company Ener-G-Africa has launched its latest products, a 550 W and, especially, a 275 W solar panel, at the 2024 Solar & Storage Conference and Exhibition, in Cape Town. While the 550 W is a standard size in the solar panel industry, the 275 W is not.

“With the 275 W panel, we are targeting applications that are niche but numerous across African solar energy markets,” Ener-G-Africa business development director Dave Lello exclusively tells Engineering News. “The development of the 275 W panel has been stimulated by African demand for more, but still small-scale, solar power. Initial solar installations across the continent were often very small-scale – mostly pico-solar systems, that provided enough power for lighting, but nothing much more. But now people want and need more energy, to power more applications. Our 275 W panel will provide enough power for lighting plus a TV, plus a small fridge. It will also provide power for small-scale, but important, applications in small-scale agriculture and other enterprises, such as water pumps or refrigerators.”

The 275 W panel can also be used on apartment buildings, or in security applications (such as powering CCTV camera arrays). Indeed, the company is already negotiating a possible contract for 275 W panels to power a community CCTV project. The panel has been designed to be light and strong. Its square shape (most solar panels are rectangular) makes it easier to handle and less liable to wind damage if it is erected on top of poles or pylons (as it would be in many CCTV applications).

The company currently assembles both the 275 W and 550 W panels at its facility in Paarl, near Cape Town. At the moment, all the key components (solar PV modules, the glass and the frames) are imported. But Ener-G-Africa plans to locally source the glass and frames. Assembly of a panel involves a lamination process, including the integration of the electrical system.

The company sees the South African solar energy market as reasonably mature, with lots of companies active in it, so it is focused on export markets in other African countries. Currently, its main markets are Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It operates networks of community shops in these countries, with flagship stores in the major cities.

“We see ourselves as a vertically integrated company, manufacturing and selling our own products in Africa,” explains Lello. “The South African market is a lower priority for us.”