Zimbabwe looks to public to provide solar power amid energy crisis

(Context, 12 Jan 2023) Zimbabwe wants to expand its net metering system to harness more renewable energy to the grid in the face of electricity shortages.

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe - As lingering droughts hit southern Africa's hydropower dams, Zimbabwe faces growing electricity shortages - but connecting individuals and businesses that have installed private solar panels to the national grid could help fill some of the gap.

Farmer Kalani Ndlovu, for instance, wants to expand his 13 kilowatt (KW) solar mini-grid - used to pump well water to fill a farm reservoir - and sell the excess power to the state.

But Ndlovu - who has a farm in Umguza, in Matabeleland North Province - worries about the cost of the device he needs to connect his mini-grid to the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), the state-owned distributor.

The grid-tied inverter would cost him at least $2,000, a significant outlay on top of the about $5,000 the commercial farmer spent on his solar power system back in 2019.

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Context, 12 Jan 2023: Zimbabwe looks to public to provide solar power amid energy crisis