Minister Derek Hanekom to tour the facilities of South Africa's first hi-tech solar plant
The Minister of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom, will officiate at a ribbon-cutting and plaque-unveiling ceremony for Africa's first semi-commercial plant for the production and marketing of a thin-film solar module that provides an effective way to convert solar energy into electricity, in Cape Town today, 28 February.
The R180 million 3 500 m2 semi-commercial facility in Stellenbosch is a joint venture between Photovoltaic Technology Intellectual Property (PTiP), a local technology development and intellectual holding company, and Singulus Technologies, a listed German engineering company.
PTiP, a spin-off company of the University of Johannesburg (UJ), is the first company in South Africa to convert basic raw materials through 15 production processes into a fully integrated solar energy product – all under one roof.
The department funded the pilot plant at UJ through the then Innovation Fund, to the tune of R13 million. In 2011, the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) approved a second round of funding of R20 million to PTiP. The TIA funding was backed by an initial amount of R93 million co-funding from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
The new generation thin-film photovoltaic technology was fully developed in South Africa and will now be produced at the Stellenbosch Technopark. The total thickness of the active materials in the thin-film module is only three microns, compared to the traditional first-generation silicon technology that had a thickness of more than 300 microns.
The development of the technology was initiated by the Physics Department of UJ in 1993, led by Prof. Vivian Alberts, who is the CEO of PTiP. Over the twenty years of the product's development, Prof. Alberts has trained over 18 MSc and PhD students.
The facility currently employs 10 people, excluding building and equipment contractors.
Photovoltaic technology is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. In 2011, thin-film solar photovoltaic technology accounted for 11% of market share and further growth is expected.
Journalists are invited to the unveiling ceremony.
Date: 28 February 2014
Venue: Photovoltaic Technology Intellectual Property (Pty) Ltd, 16 Elektron Way, Technopark, Stellenbosch 7600
Time: 14h00
For more information, please contact:
David Mandaha
Cell: 072 126 8910
