Ener-G-Africa’s (EGA) all-woman Solar Module assembly plant in Ndabeni, Cape Town, has a vision of becoming the first all-female plant internationally to manufacture solar panels that can compete with other top solar manufacturers on a global level.
EGA is the only small solar panel plant in the world certified by TUV Rheinland, a German-accredited inspection authority. The 800m² plant manufactures 20 Watt panels that sell for around R300 each in South Africa, Malawi, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and several other African countries. It also sells 50 Watt and 360Watt solar modules.
EGA also aims to improve the lives of women in Africa, not only through inclusive skills development at the solar plant in Cape Town, but also through the manufacture of energy-efficient biomass cooking stoves – mostly used by women - of which four million have been distributed across Africa.
Rene Salmon, EGA’s production manager, says achieving EGA’s vision will take a lot of dedication, trial and error, but she maintains that it is possible, and being that their panels are already TUV certified, their quality had already been approved.
‘’With the right mindset, training and self-motivation, it is definitely possible,’’ Salmon says.
‘’I attribute this to the CEO, Andre Moolman, whose vision is to produce affordable clean energy products for low-income families ,whilst also empowering previously disadvantaged individuals through training, employment and improving skill sets and opportunities,’’ she adds.
As South Africa grapples with load shedding and the power crisis, EGA has positioned itself to make a difference domestically with good quality, competitively priced products.
According to a South Africa-focused market report called South African Energy Outlook 2023, by the African Energy Chamber released in March, last year witnessed new electricity outage records, with an more than 300% increase in outage hours compared to 2021.
South Africa experiences between 4.5 and 6 hours of load shedding per day, with the average load shedding stage being Stage 3 (allowing for 3 GW of the national load to be shed with outages implemented 18 hours over a four-day period) or Stage 4 (allowing for 4 GW to be shed with outages implemented 24 hours).
EGA seeks to tackle climate change and improving households’ lives through quality, affordable and sustainable energy products made in Africa, for Africa.
Salmon says ensuring that the plant operates smoothly every day, her team focuses on high-quality products.
Her role also includes the training of other women in solar panel assembly and, at times, “I even hosted and gave educational tours to people that visited the plant”.
Salmon says she loves working with the all-woman team and seeing them grow from training to producing proper solar panels.
‘’I also enjoy knowing that our role in the plant forms part of a global mandate, which is to tackle climate change and improve the lives of households in Africa through products that are locally made.’’
Salmon believes that women can do and achieve anything they want. ‘’So to me, women empowerment means that women should be given enough opportunities to work and contribute their expertise in previously male-dominated industries.’’
Salmon shared a bit about her past:
Growing up on the Cape Flats as the eldest of five siblings, three of which were boys, Salmon never saw a difference between her and her brothers. Being the eldest, her father always showed her how to do something first. In turn, she says, she’d have to show her siblings.
“I played car games and built tree houses with my brothers, even though there were no trees in Mitchells Plain,” she said. “What they could do, I could do.”
And now, being a plant manager EGA, Salmon leads by example, even when it comes to showing her team that if she can use a soldering iron, so can they.
Advising young women who are interested in pursuing careers within the energy industry, Salmon says the world is their oyster, and they must be willing to always try to do new things, be open to learning and quickly adapt to changes.
Salmon believes women can do anything, and she always tries to preach “the gender-equality gospel” to her team. She also encourages them to always try to do something new and learn from it. For her, that’s true empowerment.
‘’Our sector needs innovative people,’’ Salmon says.
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