Welcome to Solar Payback

The objective of the three-year Solar Payback project: Promoting the use of Solar Heat for Industrial Processes (SHIP) across four partner countries – South Africa, India, Mexico and Brazil.

As part of the German International Climate Initiative (IKI), it is raising awareness of the technical and economic potential of SHIP technologies by clear and transparent information on the costs and benefits of SHIP applications and by helping to build selected reference systems. Solar Payback also cooperates with financial institutions to develop models which will assist stakeholders and investors in securing access to financing.

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Facts and Figures

Breakdown of calculated steam demand for selected industries in South Africa (26.5 PJ in total)

Source: Solar Payback 2017

  • In South Africa the food and beverage industry has the highest potential for the use of SHIP projects with an estimated 17.3 PJ of energy demand.
  • According to available data, coal is the dominant energy source for larger companies, while smaller ones use other, more expensive sources such as oil, paraffin, natural gas, HFO, LPG.

Habau Group

"We use the sun's power to dry precast concrete eleme nts in summer and heat our facilities in winter. It is a most effective way of preparing for the challenges ahead and boosting competitiveness and productivity.

Anton Karner, Managing Director, Habau Group

Lechera Guadalajara

"We have greatly profited from our solar investment. It not only allows us to use the sun's energy to pasteurise 350,000 litres of milk ten hours a day, but pasteurisation has become easier to manage. The solar heat system provides much more stable temperatures than the steam boilers we use."

Mario Tellez, Chief Operating Officer, Lechera Guadalajara

Zehnder Group Produktion Gränichen

"We want to be the most attractive provider of energy-efficient solutions for healthy and comfortable room conditions. Not only for our products and system solutions for healthy and comfortable room conditions. Not only for our products and system solutions, but also for our own buildings and production plants."

Heiner Schürch, Project Manager, Zehnder Group International

Cape Brewing Company

"The solar system was integrated within one day, so we succeeded to have minimum interruption of our day-to-day operation. At current rate, a realistic ROI is +/-6 years."

Andy Kung, Chief Operating Officer, Cape Brewing Company

ISA TanTec

"Solar heat helps us to reduce energy costs significantly and more important, it keeps them predictable and stable. In fact, it also makes us more competitive and attractive on the market, as our customers are increasingly looking for eco-friendly suppliers. "

Tom Schneider, Co-founder, ISA TanTec

Amul

"We strongly believe green energy to be the future of sustainable development. The concentrating solar thermal project was implemented as a pathbreaking showcase, with more to come. It delivers the projected output, and we are exploring to replicate this at several other union member’s dairy plants."

Arvindkumar Dhagat, Senior General Manager

Fleischwaren Berger – Austria

"Year in, year out, we had thought about using solar energy for our ham production. What ultimately helped us to turn this idea into a reality was the in-depth advice and expertise of Austrian service providers. Running an environmentally friendly business is a wonderful experience."

Rudolf Berger, Chief Executive Officer, Fleischwaren Berger

RAM Pharma

"RAM Pharma is committed to reduce its CO2 emissions. We decided to use Fresnel collector technology, as it's the best option for generating solar process steam. Our system was commissioned in March 2015 and cut diesel consumption by 42%, exceeding expectations."

Dr. Mahmoud Al Najami, General Manager, RAM Pharma

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