We are very grateful to oneSolar for donating a brand new geyser for our aftercare kitchen – not only that, they also organised plumbers (at no charge to the school) to remove and replace the old one, as well as to plumb in the dishwasher.

How lucky we are to have such support in our school.

On behalf of the staff, Governing Body, children and parents, thank you so much to oneSolar!

Valley Pre-Primary School, Hout Bay

While power utility Eskom’s rebate programme has facilitated interest in solar water heaters (SWHs) , a greater, more assertive framework would be required to attract the mass SWH adoption needed to reach South Africa’s target of one-million installations by the end of 2014.

READ MORE: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/including-solar-water-heaters-in-building-codes-to-help-sa-reach-2014-target-2011-06-14

New building codes that state that at least 50% of water heating requirements in all new buildings must be met by either heat pumps or solar geysers will help boost the solar geyser market.

READ MORE: http://www.fm.co.za/Article.aspx?id=147290

If solar heat likes to gain more importance in the future, it should not ignore the industrial sector. Task 33 of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Solar Heating & Cooling programme performed an analysis of industrial energy needs and looked for the potential of solar heat within the sector. The Task’s scientists found a huge potential for energy from the sun. The industrial sector makes up about 28 % of total primary energy consumption in the European Union. A significant share of the heat used in industrial processes is used at low or medium temperatures. About 30 % of the industrial's demand for heat is at temperatures below 100 °C and 57 % at temperatures below 400 °C, states the IEA survey. Following the assumptions of Task 33, Europe's industrial use of solar energy could amount to a market volume of 1 GWth per year, which would mean a 50 % growth with respect to the current, annual solar market volume in Europe (1.9 GWth in 2007).

There is enormous photovoltaic potential in South Africa, but government support is lacking. Image: Wikipedia/Petrusbarbygere.

A recent report believes South Africa could be the next photovoltaics superstar, if the government implements a strategy supporting the technology. However, there are a number of barriers hindering growth, particularly in the residential sector.

It is Africa’s largest economy and it is flooded with sunlight almost year-round. Yet South Africa’s photovoltaics market is growing at a rate of just 7.6 percent, lagging "significantly behind global uptake levels", according to the data published by industry analysts Frost and Sullivan.

READ MORE: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/south-africa--pv-could-be-a-goldmine-if-supported-by-government_100003384/

At the 2011 Cleantech Forum in San Francisco, John Denniston, a partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers, says innovation in clean technology has helped drive strong growth in both solar and wind over the last five years.

“Some geographies are at grid parity: in Italy, in some parts of California,” he said. “In the coming 12, 24, 36 months, we’ll be at grid parity in other geographies due to innovation and economies of scale. Countries like Spain and Japan. States like New York, New Jersey, Florida, Arizona, Texas.

“We are coming into grid parity in solar PV, and at that point, this already very large industry will be poised for a very significant take-off.”

READ MORE: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/kleiner-perkins-solar-pv-approaching-grid-parity-8216poised-for-significant-take-off-8217/14911

GE is focusing on thin film solar panels to lower cost and improve efficiency (now at 12.8 percent). It is planning to build the largest manufacturing plant in the U.S. Credit: GE

General Electric is forecasting that solar power could soon be a more affordable than fossil fuels and nuclear power, the company’s global research director told Bloomberg.

READ MORE: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/report-ge-says-fossil-fuels-nuclear-soon-costlier-than-solar-power/6686?tag=mantle_skin;content

oneSolar has just completed the installation of a Solar Water System at Kolping Training Centre in Kalksteenfontein.