Positively impacting solar thermal in Southern Africa
The SOLTRAIN initiative was founded in 2009 and is funded as SOLTRAIN+ for the next phase until 2026 by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA). The implementing agency is AEE - Institute for Sustainable Technologies (AEE INTEC) from Austria, working together with 9 project partners in Southern Africa.
SOLTRAIN achievements
Theoretical training has been carried out in cooperation with universities, energy institutes and training centres, whilst practically oriented training courses have been handled in cooperation with vocational schools and solar technology companies. In addition, 27 students have been supported with bursaries during their studies and masters theses on the topic of solar thermal energy.
The range of demonstration systems extends from small thermosiphon systems to larger solar plants for hospitals, orphanages and hotels. In addition, the first solar district heating network in Sub-Saharan Africa, numerous solar plants for industrial process heat as well as solar plants in combination with heat pumps and a PVT system were built and financially supported from Austrian development cooperation funds.
SOLTRAIN has received numerous international awards for its training program, construction of the solar plants and the support for policy makers, including the Emirates Energy Award 2017, the Energy Globe Award 2019, and the IEA SHC Solar Award 2022.
- Trained in solar thermal in over 200 training courses
- 5 000 experts
- Installed representing a solar collector area of 7 330 m2 (5.1 MWth)
- 671 systems
- Saved annually
- 33.3 GWh of electricity
- Of CO2 avoided annually
- 2 000 tons
| Country | Total collector area [m²] | Total capacity [kWth] | Number of systems | Solar yield [kWh/a] | Electricity savings [kWh/a] | Avoided Electricity Cost [€] | Avoided Electricity Cost [ZAR] | CO2 reduction [tCO2/a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mozambique | 263 | 184 | 39 | 230.254 | 253.279 | 35.079 | 647.761 | 80 |
| Namibia | 1.324 | 927 | 253 | 1.203.581 | 1.323.939 | 183.366 | 3.385.974 | 415 |
| South Africa | 4.096 | 2.867 | 151 | 2.924.400 | 3.216.840 | 445.532 | 8.227.068 | 1015 |
| Zimbabwe | 673 | 471 | 115 | 569.427 | 626.37 | 86.752 | 1.601.941 | 196 |
| Lesotho | 332 | 233 | 49 | 302.662 | 332.928 | 46.11 | 851.463 | 105 |
| Botswana | 266 | 186 | 58 | 252.189 | 277.408 | 38.421 | 709.472 | 87 |
| TOTAL | 6.955 | 4.868 | 665 | 5.482.513 | 6.030.764 | 835.261 | 15.423.679 | 1.897 |
Focus areas
Theoretical training has been carried out in cooperation with universities, energy institutes and training centres, whilst practically oriented training courses have been handled in cooperation with vocational schools and solar technology companies. In addition, 27 students have been supported with bursaries during their studies and masters theses on the topic of solar thermal energy.
The range of demonstration systems extends from small thermosiphon systems to larger solar plants for hospitals, orphanages and hotels. In addition, the first solar district heating network in Sub-Saharan Africa, numerous solar plants for industrial process heat as well as solar plants in combination with heat pumps and a PVT system were built and financially supported from Austrian development cooperation funds.
