IBC SOLAR helps universities to improve Namibia’s energy supply

The system house acts as an industry partner for universities from Bavaria in a pilot project for the energy supply in Africa
Bad Staffelstein, July 01, 2019 – IBC SOLAR, a global leader in photovoltaic (PV) systems and energy storage, is supporting Bavarian universities to create a pilot project for expanding the energy supply into rural areas of Namibia. The aim of the project “PROCEED” is to achieve a sustainable improvement in the energy supply based on renewable energy. The research will also be funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) with approximately 1.24 million Euros in the next three years.

IBC SOLAR is supporting the University of Bayreuth, the Technical University of Ingolstadt and the Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences as an industry partner for the project in order to secure and increase the energy supply in remote areas of Namibia. The system house will be primarily responsible for the technical appraisal and long-term monitoring of existing systems during the project. This also includes developing system improvements for storage and control systems and delivering the corresponding components.
“Solar power is now cheaper than electricity from the grid and the PV market in Southern Africa has significant growth potential,” explains Albert Engelbrecht, Senior Vice President Solutions International at IBC SOLAR. “We are very pleased to be helping the universities implement this project with our expertise and products. The project contains promising solutions which can also be used to improve the energy supply in other rural areas of Africa cost-effectively and efficiently,” says Engelbrecht.
Together with the system house, the researchers will use renewable energy and stand-alone grids referred to as “mini grids” to implement the project. These decentralised power grids restricted to smaller areas are operated by local providers and are not embedded into a unified nationwide integrated grid. In cooperation with Namibian partners, decentralised models for the energy infrastructure will be developed in the future, which correspond to the local electricity demand, make use of current technical possibilities and are accepted by the rural population. These island grids ought to be economically viable and easy to maintain.
More than half of Namibia’s rural population has no access to electricity. Connecting households to the national power grid is neither technically nor economically practical in many parts of the country. The lack of access to electricity is one of the main drawbacks in the efforts to reduce poverty and achieve industrialisation. 
About IBC SOLAR
IBC SOLAR is a leading global provider of photovoltaic and energy storage solutions and services. The company offers complete systems and covers the entire product range from planning to the turnkey handover of photovoltaic systems. The product range comprises solar parks, self-consumption systems for commercial enterprises and private households, off-grid photovoltaic systems and diesel hybrid solutions. As a project developer and general contractor, IBC SOLAR implements and markets major solar projects worldwide. The manufacturer-independent system house guarantees the highest quality for all projects and has currently implemented photovoltaic systems with an output of 4,2 gigawatts worldwide. IBC SOLAR works with a close network of Premium Partners and supports them with their own software tools for planning and designing grid-connected systems including storage systems. IBC SOLAR offers customised packages for energy providers, municipal utilities and providers of photovoltaic solutions. The company ensure the best possible output of solar parks through technical management and monitoring.
IBC SOLAR was founded by Udo Möhrstedt in Bad Staffelstein in 1982 who has managed the company as the Chairman of the Executive Board to date. The system house is a pioneer of the energy turnaround in Germany and is especially committed to energy cooperatives with its own planned public solar parks. The company is active internationally with numerous regional companies, sales offices and partner companies in more than 30 countries.

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