South Africa's rooftop solar capacity is close to 4.41 GW
Eskom has released new statistics on rooftop photovoltaic installation. The company stated that as of the end of June, the cumulative installed capacity of residential and commercial facilities had reached 4411.5 MW, with approximately 1.82 GW of photovoltaic installed capacity deployed from January to June alone.
However, some media have questioned these numbers, stating that they also include some non rooftop devices.
Although the rooftop solar photovoltaic industry has experienced rapid growth in the past year and the load on households and businesses has continuously decreased, Eskom's recent report on the installed capacity of rooftop solar photovoltaic seems to have been exaggerated, "Chris Ahlfeldt, founder of Blue Horizon Energy Consulting Services, said in an interview with Photovoltaics magazine, This table also appears to summarize estimated data for ground mounted solar photovoltaic projects, such as those installed for mining and industrial clients, but does not include projects purchased from the government's REIPPPP program. This will help explain the expected growth of approximately 350% over the next 14 months
Ahlfeldt stated that Eskom needs further clarification on these data to confirm the accuracy of its estimates. The latest statistics from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) show that by the end of 2022, South Africa's cumulative photovoltaic installed capacity has reached 5.82 GW.
