Who owns a solar power station in Botswana?

In July 2021, the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA) also approved the project, and issued a generation license. The power station is under development by a consortium comprising Shumba Energy Limited from Botswana and Solarcentury Africa, based in the United Kingdom.

Does Botswana have a solar system?

Botswana does have an impressive solar resource, but its exploitation requires a great number of tradeoffs. As a result, there are a limited number of larger-scale solar systems in the country. In this post, I focus on the grid-connected operations.

How much sunlight does a solar panel produce in Botswana?

Although the amount of sunlight in Botswana is high relative to other parts of the world, the irradiation levels are only close to one peak sun at around noontime. A solar panel will therefore only produce its rated output for a short while around midday; the rest of the time, the irradiation is lower and the output is commensurately lower.

Who is the off-taker of Botswana Power Station?

The off-taker is Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). The power station would be located in the town of Selebi-Phikwe, , [b] in the Central District of Botswana.

Is solar PV expensive in Botswana?

This most likely contributes to the prevailing perception in Botswana that solar PV is expensive. The system contains 5920 panels, each with a 220-W DC rating, which gives 1 300 000 W or 1300 kW overall rating. The panels are wired in strings of 16 panels connected in series to provide a peak voltage of 470 V DC.