Arctech took center stage at the Africa Energy Forum 2025, in Cape Town, marked a key step in strengthening Arctech's presence in South Africa and the broader Sub-Saharan market. South Africa boasts abundant solar resources, averaging over 2500 hours of sunshine per year. Aiming to limit its carbon emissions to 398-440 million tons by 2030, the photovoltaic industry is undoubtedly the core driving force to achieve this target, presenting enormous market potential and promising prospects.
In 2011, the local government launched a program, which targeted reaching a total installed solar capacity of 8.4 GW by 2030 and 16 GW by 2050. In 2024, South Africa added approximately 1.1 GW new solar capacity, accounting for the largest share of new solar installations in Africa. South Africa is undergoing a rapid energy transition driven by grid instability, aging infrastructure and frequent load shedding.
The country aims to add hundreds of megawatts of renewable capacity to meet rising demand and reduce carbon footprint. However, challenges like land constraints, ROI uncertainty and O&M costs continue to impact project bankability. Facing the chances and challenges, Arctech showcased its solutions at AEF 2025.
Skyline II Solar Tracker: The 1P independent-row tracker helps boost energy generation with smart backtracking and adaptive algorithms. Skyline II tracking system supports up to 20% north-south slope with unrestricted east-west orientation. Fully compatible with the cleaning robots, it gets to maximize O&M efficiency. Starshine I Cleaning Robot: Using AI algorithms and high-pressure air cleaning, this system ensures efficient dust removal without water, ideal for the dry and dusty climates across Africa.
The overall power gain improvement can range from 5% to 20%, demonstrating a strong return on investment. Integrated Cleaning Robot and Tracking System Design: Shared Supporting structure: The integrated design of cleaning robot and tracking system utilizes shared supporting structures to optimize docking station costs. The docking station moves in synchronization with the tracker, ensuring precise alignment with PV modules to prevent mechanical impacts and reduce O&M risks.
Unified After-Sales Interface: The integrated design features thorough requirement analysis to reduce rework. With clear after-sales channels, Arctech provides defined accountability and streamlined service access. Coordination through SCADA platform: Arctech's tracking systems and cleaning robots achieve intelligent coordination through the SCADA platform, which intelligently calculates optimal paths and enables autonomous navigation cleaning.
This dual-system integration resolves compatibility challenges between cleaning robots and tracking systems, ensuring increased power generation efficiency throughout the entire lifecycle of solar power plants. Beyond technology, this forum allowed the team to deepen connections with local stakeholders, EPCs and developers. Through one-on-one meetings and roundtable discussions, Arctech explored future collaborations, ongoing tenders and shared insights into local procurement processes and energy needs.
