Locally made PV modules power REIPPP
23 March 2016
Editor's Choice
News
ARTsolar recently completed production of the final consignment of locally produced photovoltaic (PV) modules in the government’s Round 3 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP).
“These PV modules were manufactured at the ARTsolar plant in KwaZulu-Natal, for the Mulilo Sonnedix Prieska PV solar plant project,” explains Derek Lawrance, director at ARTsolar. “This plant, which supplies the electricity it produces to the Eskom Kromos substation in the Northern Cape, is the first 75 MW AC size REIPPP project to have PV modules produced by a South African owned company.”
After winning this Q1 2015 bid, ARTsolar implemented an expansion programme to meet production requirements of this project. The company made a substantial investment in new machinery and increased the total floor space of its New Germany plant from 3500 m² to 10 000 m². The single day shift operation was increased to a 24 hour/six day schedule and the team of staff was expanded to 200.
“We are proud to be the first locally owned solar PV module manufacturer to have been awarded manufacture for the REIPPP programme. Although ARTsolar’s operation has grown significantly through this project, challenges remain for local PV manufacturers outside of the REIPPP programme.
“Local industry is struggling to adapt to the ‘stop-start’ nature of REIPPP projects, which present extended inactive manufacturing periods between contracts. This situation requires assistance from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Unlike solar water heaters, the local PV module manufacturing sector is not protected by locally designated modules outside of the REIPPP.”
Based on this, ARTsolar is currently restructuring its operations in preparation for REIPPP Round 4 in Q4 of 2016. The company expects to operate at its pre-expansion capacity, whilst escalating its penetration of the local and sub-Saharan market, in anticipation of once more participating in the REIPPP later in the year.
For more information contact ARTsolar, +27 (0)31 705 7162, [email protected], www.artsolar.net
Further reading:
Enhance SiC device efficiency using merged-pin Schottky diodes
NuVision Electronics
Editor's Choice Power Electronics / Power Management
Silicon carbide (SiC) has advantages over silicon (Si) that make it particularly suitable for Schottky diodes in applications such as fast battery chargers, photovoltaic (PV) battery converters, and traction inverters.
Read more...
What is Wi-Fi HaLow and why choose it for IoT?
iCorp Technologies
Editor's Choice Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Wi-Fi HaLow introduces a low power connectivity option that, in contrast to other Wi-Fi options, offers greater range of approximately 1 km, which opens up a raft of IoT use cases.
Read more...
Simple battery charger ICs for any chemistry
Altron Arrow
Editor's Choice Power Electronics / Power Management
The LTC4162 is a highly integrated, high voltage multi-chemistry synchronous monolithic step-down battery charger and PowerPath manager with onboard telemetry functions and optional maximum power point tracking.
Read more...
From the editor's desk: Is the current AI really what we want?
Technews Publishing
Editor's Choice
The companies that develop LLMs need to change direction and concentrate on freeing up our time, not so that we can have more time to do the tasks we don’t want to do in the first place, but rather to allow us more time to do what we love.
Read more...
When it comes to long-term reliability of RF amplifier ICs, focus first on die junction temperature
Altron Arrow
Editor's Choice Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
When considering the long-term reliability of integrated circuits, a common misconception is that high package or die thermal resistance is problematic. However, high or low thermal resistance, by itself, tells an incomplete story.
Read more...
ICs vs modules: Understanding the technical trade-offs for IoT applications
NuVision Electronics
Editor's Choice DSP, Micros & Memory
As the IoT continues to transform industries, design decisions around wireless connectivity components become increasingly complex with engineers often facing the dilemma of choosing between ICs and wireless modules for their IoT applications.
Read more...
Why bis means business for LTE Cat 1 IoT connections
NuVision Electronics
Editor's Choice Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Tomaž Petaros, product manager IoT EMEA at Quectel Wireless Solutions explains why the market for Cat 1bis IoT connections is getting busy.
Read more...
Interview with Brian Aziz, vice president of global sales, Iridium
Editor's Choice
ridium is the leading satellite IoT player. Their network consists of 66 active low Earth orbit satellites covering every inch of the globe and are used for IoT and emergency services worldwide.
Read more...
Accelerating AI adoption in MCU manufacturing
Editor's Choice AI & ML
To gain the value of ML functionality, designers of MCU-based devices have to adopt a new development method and accept a new type of probabilistic rather than deterministic output.
Read more...
Altron Arrow: Empowering innovation with STMicroelectronics AI processors
Altron Arrow
Editor's Choice AI & ML
ST’s AI processors are not only smarter and faster, but also incredibly efficient, enabling a new wave of intelligent solutions across multiple industries.
Read more...
printer friendly version