What drives the growth of solar is changing

November 27, 2025

Dear subscriber,

Businesses often claim the customer is king, yet few take the time to truly understand paying royalty. One investment firm has taken a deeper look, revealing what solar users think and experience, their frustrations and their motivations.

– Sammy Jamar, Editor

Load shedding may have triggered South Africa’s solar boom, but the next wave of growth will come from economics, with 93% of homeowners and 79% of businesses already reporting cost savings. This is according to the latest and largest South Africa Solar User Report, which surveyed more than 2,000 households and businesses. 

  • Investment manager Jaltech conducted the survey. It shows a positive market outlook, with many non-adopters open to solar: 82% of homeowners and 79% of businesses. 

  • These findings mirror what is happening in other markets. Rising grid costs and falling panel prices have an accelerating impact.

  • Our take: With tax breaks gone, direct purchases may slow while PPAs, leasing, and pay-as-you-go options grow… Read more (2 min)

Renewables Rising noted policy developments across five countries in November, a slowdown from activity seen in October. South Africa, Algeria, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau and Ghana all recorded policy changes. Algeria is looking to promote local manufacturing by reducing customs duties on products used in the production of solar panels.

  • Algeria has recorded one of the largest increases in solar imports from China, growing almost fivefold compared to 2024. It now ranks third, with 1.6 GW imported in the last ten months, just behind South Africa and Egypt.

  • In September, the government welcomed Chinese glassmaker Kibing Group to build a solar glass plant using local silica sand. These policy shifts signal an effort to replace rising imports with local production.

  • Our take: Transmission will be the next bottleneck after generation, and there is a need for integrated planning… Read more (2 min)

The energy sector saw 170 new job ads in the past week. Multinational developers Scatec, Engie and Yellow Door Energy are at the forefront. Scatec is offering nine positions, split between South Africa and Egypt. Engie is hiring for three positions, including legal and trade specialists to support energy projects and mergers and acquisitions. 

  • Off-grid energy players are focusing on East and West Africa. SunCulture in Kenya seeks three debt collectors. In Nigeria, Sun King, d.light and Husk Power Systems are leading recruitment.

  • Clean cooking is also gaining ground, with solutions provider Burn Manufacturing advertising policy and operations roles across Mozambique, Madagascar, Ghana and Ethiopia.

  • The full list of jobs is here… (2 min)

Enabel has partnered with the Africa Climate and Energy Nexus to support project preparation in the energy sector in Zambia (Source: AfCEN)

Events

🗓️ Take part in the Renewable Energy Forum Africa (REFA) 2025 (Dec 3)

🗓️ Sign up for the Women in Renewable Energy Conference (Dec 9)

🗓️ Attend a session exploring blended finance for green projects (Dec 10)

Various

⚡ Little Sun launches six hubs for Zambian dairy farmers

🔌 Somalia seeks bids to solar-power 22 health facilities

🟢 Enpower gets SAPP approval for cross-border power trade

🚫 Trump bars South Africa from the next G20 summit in Miami

Seen on LinkedIn 

Musaddiq Mustapha, Personal Assistant to the President on Subnational Infrastructure (OVP), says, “When governments allow structured private participation in transmission, the grid expands, bottlenecks reduce, and reliability improves.”