Page 42 - Energize September 2022

VIEWS AND OPINION

Solar shines at expo’s return systems that consist of matched plug and
play components.
Noticeable were the large number
By Energize Staffwriter of home battery systems, most available
in designer wall or floor cabinets, with
capacities up 25 kWh in a single unit, all
he Power and Electricity World Africa expo is back after an absence of three years. equipped with display panels and monitors.
Although it was a smaller version than previous events, it was nonetheless extremely The main battery technology used is
Tpopular, judging by the long queues at registration and the crowds in the exhibition area Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4). There is
and at presentation venues. Crowds were so large that some exhibitors ran out of brochures on no longer a single source of home battery
the first day. storage systems in the market, and the
The event, which ran from 23 to 24 August 2022 at the Sandton Convention Centre in customer can choose between a wide range
Johannesburg, featured 217 exhibitors over two floors comprising Power and Electricity World of elegant home storage systems.
Africa (PEWA) and the Solar Show exhibitions. The theme for this year’s event was “Innovation, Unfortunately, very little of the home
Investment, Infrastructure – Energy for the people”. power system is manufactured locally.
It was different to previous events: instead of major speaker events, 50 hours of panel Several battery systems are assembled
sessions and individual presentations and interviews over four tracks were offered, featuring locally from imported cells, with locally
over 200 speakers, located at theatre venues within the exhibition area. manufactured charge controllers and
Presentations covered a wide variety of topics focusing on solar technology, storage and monitoring systems. An interesting battery
installation and the grid, as well as commercial and industrial energy utilisation. feature is second life batteries which
reconfigures end-of-life EV batteries for
Eskom interview stationary use. None of the home power
Of particular interest was an interview with Eskom’s chief operations officer, Jan Oberholzer, who inverter systems are manufactured
said that Eskom faces challenges in three areas: operational, financial and the national grid. locally, which is a pity since the units are
The age and condition of existing coal fired-power stations is a problem, he said. Fifteen of uncomplicated and use basic electronic
these power stations are not performing to standard and the two new coal-fired plants still suffer components.
from latent defects. Much of the existing plant has been run for long periods at high utilisation
factors, resulting in unreliability and high risk of failure. While there are plenty of qualified Solar PV and local manufacture
staff at Eskom, few have the necessary experience, which leaves the utility with insufficient The focus on solar PV was mainly on large
experienced and competent staff to ensure reliable operation of the fleet. bifacial panels in the 500 to 600 W range.
On the financial side, he said, the biggest problems are the utility’s R400-billion debt load There are two local companies assembling
and cash-flow. While it is possible that National Treasury will assist with the debt, the cash flow solar panels using imported wafers. One
problem, which results from the R50-billion outstanding arrear debt owed by municipalities, of the companies had planned to set up
remains. It has been estimated that the utility would need about R990-billion to decommission wafer production a few years ago, but
and replace existing coal-fired power plants, Oberholzer said. this was delayed by the Covid pandemic.
The use of renewables is restrained by the capacity of the grid to transport power from According to a representative of the
remote prime solar and wind sites to load centres. There is also the mistaken assumption that company, the plan for the manufacture
solar resources close to load centres are too low to use. Solar could be utilised effectively closer of rectangular wafers is in the pipeline.
to load centres and existing generation sites, he added. Eskom owns large tracts of land around This will be an interesting development
existing generation centres, which could house solar power systems with direct connection to to watch. If it materialises, it will open
the grid. Eskom will lease this land to IPPs, which would help to reduce the need to upgrade the door to local assembly and/or
existing transmission systems. manufacture. It was mentioned by several
According to Oberholzer, 60 GW of wind and solar need to be added to replace retiring coal- other exhibitors that the quality of some
fired power stations if a capacity factor of 30% is assumed. No mention was made of the amount locally produced panels is questionable,
of storage required to make the 60 GW perform like 18 GW of dispatchable power. Extensions to making it difficult to obtain finance for
the grid will be essential if we are to accommodate new renewable energy systems, and 8000 km projects using these panels.
of transmission lines and 12 new substations comprising 100 transformers, will be required to The general consensus amongst
transport additional power to load centres, he said. exhibitors was that a definite policy
Other speakers agreed that a mixture of generation technologies is required to ensure decision is needed from government before
security of supply, and that dispatchable baseload power is essential. Hybrid systems with wind/ local manufacture will become viable. With
solar/storage are considered to be necessary to ensure dispatchability. Nuclear is also regarded the right policy in place, local manufacture
as an essential component of future low carbon generation. of a number of components could take
place. Policy on local content is essential.
Startup zone Overall the event successfully
An interesting feature was the startup zone, which allocated a small wall and countertop space provided a mix of exhibition viewing
to startup exhibitors allowing small businesses to participate. and presentations that met the need for
The main items on display were small power systems for home and small businesses, in knowledge of new developments and
the range up to10 kW capacity, consisting of solar PV, inverters and storage systems plus other directions that the industry is taking.
auxiliary items. This is a sector of the industry that has matured and a large number of fully
developed elegant systems were on display, a far cry from early home power systems that Send your comments to
were assembled from individual components. The consumer now has access to a wide range of rogerl@nowmedia.co.za

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