South Africa: Home Solar Systems in South Africa - More Will Be Installed If Households Are Given Loans, Free Maintenance and SecuritySouth Africa is making efforts to increase the use of solar photovoltaic energy. But it's happening at a very slow pace.in the last few years with a 349% increase in rooftop solar PV capacity from 983MW in March 2022 to 4412MW in June 2023.
We concluded that without addressing these problems, home solar power will remain a source of energy for the economically privileged only. Transitioning away from coal-fired power to renewable energy will remain a pipe dream in the Poor households cannot get solar loans because they do not have assets as collateral. Similar barriers have also been reported in countries likePersonal barriers also contribute to low adoption of solar photovoltaic among households. We found a number of examples:but were not trained in how to use them. Eventually they broke down, which caused disappointment and frustration, and scared off other people who wanted to install solar geysers.
Some solar home systems that were donated through government projects broke down due to wear and tear. Getting spare parts was expensive and time-consuming as they had to be imported from abroad.. Unlike developed countries, where spare parts are more readily available, developing nations often struggle due to a lack of local manufacturing.Social barriers such as theft were some of the reasons why households were not willing to shift to solar photovoltaic energy.