According to a statement released, Ubbink East Africa Ltd is currently producing over 100 modules a day. The aim is to manufacture around 30,000 annually.
A spokesperson for the company additionally told pv magazine that 30 people are currently employed there. It is hoped, however, that this number will increase to between 40 and 50 by the end of the year. The employees were all trained by Ubbink in the Netherlands.
The crystalline photovoltaic modules produced are suited for smaller, off-grid solar systems. They will be used, for example, in private residences, lighting in schools, and for water supply and telecommunications purposes. They range in size from 13 to 125 watts peak.
Ubbink East Africa CEO Haijo Kuper commented, "Our solar factory the first in the whole of East and Central Africa is also kick starting local industry. Within the space of a year, we managed to qualify more than 30 employees for a technology that is completely new for East Africa and which is our contribution to the continents ongoing development."
The financial sum invested in the factory was not disclosed. However, the spokesperson said that it did not run into the millions. Half of the funds came from the Dutch Governments fund for renewable energies in underdeveloped countries. The other half, meanwhile, came from both Ubbink and Ubbinks partner, Chloride Exide.
"This is a first step," said the spokesperson. They added that while capacity is expected to ramp up, it will do so steadily, rather than quickly.
Ubbink East Africa produced its first Kenyan photovoltaic module back in March.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.