Northern Africa

Solar installations across Africa hit 949 MW in 2022, bringing cumulative capacity past the 10 GW mark, according to the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA). While that may seem underwhelming for such a huge region, it shows that countries are taking big steps toward realizing the entire continent’s PV potential.

The Middle East Solar Industry Association (Mesia) has reviewed the latest achievements of key PV markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in its newly published “Solar Outlook Report 2023.” The report offers an overview of developments across the PV industry, including green hydrogen, floating solar, and robotic cleaning.

Berlin-based Boreal Light has developed water desalination tech powered by PV for off-grid applications. The solution uses 460 W solar panels from Chinese module manufacturer DAH Solar and produces clean water from direct seawater at a cost of €0.50 ($0.54)/m3.

A new database developed by researchers in Germany includes 1,074 hydropower projects, 1,128 solar plants, and 276 wind power assets, along with geographic coordinates, construction statuses, and capacities for each of them.

The Tunisia authorities plan to allocate 1 GW of installed solar power through two different procurement exercises, spread across 10 projects.

Scientists in Morocco recently conducted a year-long study on the impacts of soiling on PV modules in arid, dusty conditions. They found that soiling could contribute to daily performance losses of as much as 15%.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has granted $37 million in loans to support the development of a 100 MW solar plant in Kairouan, Tunisia. The Tunisian authorities tendered the project in 2019.

This year has witnessed upheaval in the global energy system as inflation, geopolitical conflict, and the reality of a changing climate continue to drive the transition to cleaner energy. Next year, these trends are likely to continue and accelerate as renewable energy adoption continues to grow and the inextricable link between energy security and national security is increasingly recognized. Alan Greenshields, of US-based iron-salt flow battery maker ESS Inc, offers four predictions for 2023.

Scientists in Egypt have created a self-cleaning, hydrophobic coating for solar panels that reportedly increases their efficiency by more than 30%. They used a coating solution based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanocomposites, mixed with ethanol and isopropanol.

Moroccan researchers have proposed the use of luminescent solar concentrators for power generation in greenhouses and agrivoltaic projects. They say they are capable of producing electricity in low-light illumination and converting ultraviolet light to visible light that could be used for crops.