Read the full original article from pv magazine here

With installers who cater to African businesses making the headlines this year, Jasper Graf von Hardenberg – whose C&I solar business was recently bought by Shell – explains here how the story of the continent’s commercial and industrial (C&I) solar segment was far from an overnight success.

For Africa’s commercial and industrial (C&I) solar industry, 2022 has truly been a watershed year. The sector has seen an unprecedented level of activity in the form of mergers and acquisitions and large scale investments.

Oslo-based Empower New Energy raised $100 million for 150 MW of industrial solar projects while Starsight Energy merged with SolarAfrica. In September, Daystar Power (the company that I co-founded with Christian Wessels) was acquired by Shell, its first acquisition of a power business on the continent.