🔒 Secrecy around reported failures at Prieska solar farm raises eyebrows

Solar energy looks like a no-brainer for South Africa because there are so many sunny days, which makes it the envy of many the world over. With Eskom’s extensive problems in keeping the lights on in the country the focus has shifted to renewable energies like solar power, which is seen to be the future for continued electricity in SA. Several mining companies have recently indicated that they are planning to build their own solar plants with around 609 megawatts of capacity, and the government has now given the go-ahead for these plants. The solar industry is poised to assist mines, businesses and private users but recent problems reported from a solar farm in Prieska in the Northern Cape has raised questions on whether the solar industry is capable of  plugging the power deficit hole. An investigation by Green Building Africa and PV magazine found serious problems, which the manufacturers and installers have clouded in secrecy, refusing to comment because of ‘confidentiality’. – Linda van Tilburg

By Thulasizwe Sithole

The Mulilo Sonnedix Prieska solar farm was commissioned in July 2016 with great expectation as it was announced by Spanish renewable company Sonnedix as its “first plant in South Africa and the biggest in its portfolio”. But Green Building Africa (GBA) writes that there are reports of “backsheet failures” at the 75MW solar farm due to “premature module degradation”. There will seemingly have to be “widespread module replacement” and this only a few years after installation. A Chinese manufacturer BYD and South African producer Artsolar supplied the modules for the project.

Reports received from the R1.3bn solar farm are that “backsheet degradation is affecting power output and widespread module replacement may be necessary”. Greg Austin, MD of Juwi Renewable Energies, refuted the rumours, saying  “this kind of information is confidential within projects”.

But PV magazine and GBA spoke to local PV industry insiders, “who confirmed plant remediation work, which may include replacing failed modules, is under way.” Sonnedix and Mulilo refused to confirm that the plant is under-performing.

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GBA and PV magazine said they believed that questions remained as to the “provenance of the modules used on the Prieska project”. The Chinese modules maker BYD did not responded to requests for comment from GBA and PV magazine, but the SA supplier Artsolar said “a substantial amount of the panels are from our facility… but certainly not all”.

With very little information on what is actually happening at Prieska in the Northern Cape and with the companies involved refusing to comment on the rumours, GBA commented that the country can with the extended loadshedding programme and problems at Eskom “ill afford its solar power generation facilities to under-perform”.

The magazine is also of the view that the challenges at the Prieska project “illustrates the importance of sourcing durable modules for use in hot climates”.

“High temperatures have shown to cause more frequent backsheet failures – an issue particularly prevalent in rooftop projects, where temperatures are typically 15 degrees Celcius higher than ground-mounted arrays,” the magazines says.