Circadian Technologies’ Post

"The future is an extremely distributed system to an extent that people haven’t fully grasped. It’s going to happen here in Africa first and most consequentially," CrossBoundary Group co-founder and Managing Partner Matt Tilleard tells The Economist in their latest coverage of the growth of decentralized, commercially driven solar power in Africa. The article also features key insights from CrossBoundary Energy's white paper on the regulatory building blocks for distributed energy resources. Read The Economist article here: https://lnkd.in/gtcuJByp #renewableenergy #solarpower #africapower

This is so true Jigar, this is exactly what we are proposing in Africa, decentralized power grids, smaller, modular point of use, is faster, to install, and less costly to deploy than large grid tied systems, that take decades to deploy. GHOST is leading the Way.

Solar week! At least in the Northern hemisphere as the summer solstice approaches - The Economist is shining a light on the solar industry and particular here the fantastic use case for solar pv in Sub-Saharan Africa. Solar contributes to both energy security, lower energy costs and socio-economic prosperity. In South Africa, the growth of solar pv is a key driver behind less load-shedding in 2024 - more private investment for #distributedsolar is influencing the trend. #solar #solarpv #energytransition

How impactful is solar energy distribution in Africa ? Solar energy distribution in Africa is increasingly impactful, with private firms driving a solar power revolution. Last year, Africa installed a record amount of photovoltaic capacity, highlighting solar energy's growing role in the continent's energy mix. Showcasing solar energy's potential in enhancing energy access and sustainability in Africa. For instance, a partnership between the Portuguese group MCA and South Korean company Samsung aims to distribute solar energy at night to over 200,000 homes in Angola, benefiting around one million people. Private firms are driving a revolution in solar power in Africa, faced with Unreliable energy grids new energy solutions are being adopted by African countries.

First, the bad news: • 600 million Africans have no access to energy • A lack of reliable energy negatively impacts Africa's GDP growth Now, for the good news: • The cost of solar systems is rapidly decreasing • Solar decentralization can accelerate renewable energy Africa's future is getting brighter 😀

12k Energy Europe - Good to see many African Solar companies come together and discuss solar issues in Amsterdam #Netherlands - Private firms are driving a revolution in #solar power in Africa. Unreliable #grids and falling costs are persuading companies to go #offgrid African #poverty is partly a consequence of #energypoverty. In every other continent the vast majority of people have access to electricity. In Africa 600m people, 43% of the total, cannot readily light their homes or charge their phones. And those who nominally have grid electricity find it as reliable as a Scottish summer. More than three-quarters of African firms experience outages; two-fifths say electricity is the main constraint on their business. If other sub-Saharan African countries had enjoyed power as reliable as #SouthAfrica’s from 1995 to 2007, then the continent’s rate of real gdp growth per person would have been two percentage points higher, more than doubling the actual rate, according to one academic paper. Since then South Africa has also had erratic electricity. So-called “load-shedding” is probably the main reason why the economy has shrunk in four of the past eight quarters. Solar power is increasingly seen as the solution. Last year Africa installed a record amount of photovoltaic (pv) capacity (though this still made up just 1% of the total added worldwide), notes the African Solar Industry Association (afsia), a trade group. AFSIA (Africa Solar Industry Association) 12k Direct Electric | 12k Energy Business | 12k Energy Group | Zuvar Solartech https://lnkd.in/gtcuJByp

Private firms like 12k Energy Business and 12k Energy Group - are driving a revolution in solar power in Africa. Unreliable grids and falling costs are persuading companies to go #offgrid. African #poverty is partly a consequence of #energypoverty. In every other continent the vast majority of people have access to electricity. In Africa 600m people, 43% of the total, cannot readily light their homes or charge their phones. And those who nominally have grid electricity find it as reliable as a Scottish summer. More than three-quarters of African firms experience outages; two-fifths say electricity is the main constraint on their business. If other sub-Saharan African countries had enjoyed power as reliable as South Africa’s from 1995 to 2007, then the continent’s rate of real #GDP growth per person would have been two percentage points higher, more than doubling the actual rate, according to one academic paper. Since then South Africa has also had erratic electricity. So-called “load-shedding” is probably the main reason why the economy has shrunk in four of the past eight quarters. #Solar power is increasingly seen as the solution. Last year #Africa installed a record amount of photovoltaic (pv) capacity (though this still made up just 1% of the total added worldwide), notes the African Solar Industry Association (afsia), a trade group. #Solar #Energy #PV #Renewables #Grid #Offgrid #EnergyBusiness 12k Direct Electric | Zuvar Solartech | 12k Energy Southern Africa | Woodpecker Solar | The Economist | AFSIA (Africa Solar Industry Association) https://lnkd.in/gtcuJByp

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮? “Though home to 60% of the world’s best solar resources, Africa today represents just 1% of installed solar photovoltaic capacity. The entire region of 1.2 billion people has just one-fifth the solar capacity of cloudy, temperate Germany.” I recently came across this intriguing question thanks to the following article by Todd Moss in Asterisk Magazine: https://lnkd.in/d7dv9vHB Out of curiosity I dug a little deeper. Many reasons are well addressed in the article, while I believe there are important additional factors: - 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: The article focuses on a (failed) world bank initiative that would “…show politicians and investors how large-scale solar farms could be done profitably.”. But maybe the challenges of Africa would be better addressed with decentralized energy. (https://lnkd.in/diBFWmXJ) - 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: The electricity grid's reach is still inadequate in many parts of Africa, which poses a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of solar energy (https://lnkd.in/dpSMabZ5) - 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲: Educating and empowering local communities to install, protect, and maintain solar technology is essential for long-term sustainability. Clayton Christensen’s book, "The Prosperity Paradox," offers insightful strategies on addressing poverty through scalable and economic innovation. He cites the extensive success of mobile networks in Africa as a prime example of such innovation. This success story suggests that there could be a substantial opportunity for both environmental and business advancements through the adoption of solar energy in Africa. #solar #innovation #africa

Africa's solar revolution is shifting toward decentralized, commercially driven energy solutions. With 600 million people—43% of the population—lacking reliable electricity and over three-quarters of firms facing power outages, many are turning to solar energy. In the past two years, 65% of new photovoltaic (PV) capacity in Africa has come from large firms contracting directly with developers rather than utilities, as is the global norm. This shift is fueled by falling costs: between 2019 and 2023, solar panel prices dropped 15%, following a 90% decline in the 2010s, while battery storage costs halved. In South Africa, where electricity rationing is common, industrial users now pay 20-40% less per unit by sourcing power from private developers. As a result, the country's solar capacity has grown from 2.8GW to 7.8GW in two years. Across sub-Saharan Africa, nearly two-thirds of mines are producing or installing renewable energy. Startups providing Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) have surged, with an estimated 400 million Africans now receiving electricity from solar home systems. In Kenya, these firms employ six times more people than the largest utility, and in Nigeria, where diesel generators account for four times what the grid can reliably supply, the trend toward DRE has created nearly as many jobs as those in the oil and gas industry. #AfricaEnergy #SolarPower #DecentralizedEnergy Matt Tilleard Yariv Cohen Kenya Power https://lnkd.in/esFeCtm5

Solar Is South Africa’s Silent Revolution The reality is that South Africa is dealing with a worsening power crisis, and even though President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to cut through the red tape and boost the country’s use of renewable energy, not many South Africans are willing to wait for government action.  In fact, their impatience has driven a boom in small-scale solar installations.  Increasingly more South Africans are willing to be without power. Especially those who work from home, where every minute without power costs their business money. https://lnkd.in/d6vs3NQB