About 200 out of the targeted 400 houses in Glen View, Harare, have been connected to the pilot solar power project, which is set to be launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The project is being led by Paul Tungwarara, Special Presidential Investment Adviser and chairperson of Prevail Group International (PGI), with implementation by the Zimbabwe Solar Energy Company, a PGI subsidiary.
The initiative involves renting and installing solar panels on rooftops, with the generated solar energy being fed into the national grid.
After touring the Glen View Rooftop Solar Project, Jorum Gumbo on Thursday, Special Adviser to the President on monitoring government programmes, said the project would boost Zimbabwe’s economic development. Said Gumbo (via <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200035281/200-glen-view-houses-connected-to-pilot-solar-project">NewsDay</a>):
<blockquote>
The Glen View solar power project stands as a shining example of this transition, an innovation-driven initiative that not only addresses energy challenges but also contributes to environmental sustainability and economic empowerment…
Community solar projects empower residents by providing affordable, clean energy solutions while reducing reliance on the national grid, thereby fostering resilience and economic development at the grassroots level.
</blockquote>
Tungwarara said the project was motivated by the need to end the challenges associated with load-shedding. He said:
<blockquote>
When we saw that there was too much load-shedding, we just came up with this concept of renting a roof, where we are going to put solar panels on each roof.
The project is running under the Presidential Solar Scheme, as we announced before.
For the pilot, we are going to put 400 houses. I think they have done nearly more than 200.
</blockquote>
Harare Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Charles Tawengwa, who joined Jorum Gumbo during the tour, assured that residents would not be affected by load-shedding.
Tawengwa also revealed that residents would receive a token of appreciation—approximately US$20 per month—for renting out their rooftops for the solar panels.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

In Glen View, Harare, a pilot solar power project is powering 200 houses out of 400. The project is led by Paul Tungwarara and aims to connect solar panels on rooftops to generate energy for the national grid. This project will help reduce load-shedding challenges and provide clean, affordable energy for residents. The initiative is part of the Presidential Solar Scheme and will benefit the community economically and environmentally. Residents renting out their rooftops will receive a monthly payment. Officials are optimistic about the positive impact of this solar project on Zimbabwe's economic development and sustainability.

Pilot Solar Project Powers 200 Houses In Glen View

The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) is developing a regulatory framework to guide the quality of imported solar products.
Speaking at a recent meeting with stakeholders in the energy sector in Harare, ZERA Chief Executive Officer Eddington Mazambani said some of the solar products being imported into the country are of poor quality. He said (via <a href="https://www.zbcnews.co.zw/science/regulatory-framework-for-importation-of-solar-products-on-the-cards/">ZBC News</a>):
<blockquote>
We have had concerns with the quality of solar products coming into the country. We realised that we had a gap in terms of laws to enforce on the quality of solar products.
We are now crafting regulations to ensure products coming into the country are of high quality in terms of generation, we have now seen projects coming through for dedicated customers and projects for what we call captive customers.
</blockquote>
At the meeting, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) representative, Elizabeth Boore, urged ZERA to formulate a competitive tariff regime to prevent industry from shutting down.
The issues of power purchase agreements and the setting of tariffs for independent power producers were also discussed at the stakeholder meeting.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Zimbabwe wants to stop bad quality solar products from coming into the country. They are making rules to make sure only good quality solar products can be brought in. The boss of the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) talked about this at a meeting in Harare. They want to have laws to control the quality of solar products. They also talked about making fair prices for buying solar power. This will help the industry stay strong. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries also wants ZERA to make good rules about prices. They are working on making things better for everyone.

Zimbabwe Moves To Bar Importation Of Substandard Solar Products

Hospitals and clinics across the country have reinforced their security following a spate of vandalism of solar panel installations by thieves.
The thieves are targeting mainly solar panels, inverters, gel and lithium batteries that were installed at health centres in both urban and rural areas.
<a href="https://healthtimes.co.zw/2023/06/18/zim-health-facilities-beef-up-security-as-thieves-ransack-solar-systems/">Health Times</a> reported that the solar panel systems were installed across 1 045 health facilities in Zimbabwe through a Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) Solar for Health project and is supported by the UNDP-Global Fund initiative.
The solar systems are 5kW, 7kW, 10kW or 40kW, depending on the size of the facility and energy requirements to power specific functions.
Bulawayo City Health Department Director Edwin Sibanda said that they have tried to improve the security and lighting around some of these installations to reduce incidents of vandalism. He said:
<blockquote>
Most of our clinics have got solar services that is, a solar plant or solar power as backup.
Unfortunately for us, some of these solar power installations have not been spared by vandals and thieves and other people that have wrong and selfish intentions because some panels and batteries were stolen and thanks to our partners, some have been replaced.
</blockquote>
Matebeleland South Provincial Medical Director (PMD) Andrew Muza said:
<blockquote>
We have been working quite well with other stakeholders to protect the equipment. We are working with community members, the police and security sector to help us to be able to contain the situation.
We are retraining and reorienting security guards that are on the Ministry of Health side to deal with these cases of vandalism as well.
</blockquote>
The Provincial Medical Director for Masvingo, Amadeus Shamu, said:
<blockquote>
We have told the institutions to secure those installations. Most of them have managed to fence them and we also have the community coming where we don’t have security guards, we have communities guarding the institutions.
In this province, we have not recorded any cases of vandalism of solar equipment.
</blockquote>
Emmanuel Boadi, the UNDP Programme Manager, Global Fund said that there have been challenges of vandalism and theft of the components of the system.
He added that the UNDP-Global Fund project was working with stakeholders to ensure that the solar project continues into the future.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

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