The growth of the renewable energy industry in South Africa has been remarkable in the last decade. More people are opting to live a “green life” to also combat the effects of global warming.

We have seen the government use solar panels on their local RDP houses to generate power. Baphethuxolo Khosa from Germiston in the East Rand owns a solar panel company as he saw a business opportunity from the ongoing loadshedding in the country. 

“Solar panels are still fairly new in SA. There aren’t as many jobs, and the government and private sector are not showing anything in terms of investing in local talent and bringing the necessary skills to TVETs. 

“The government usually orders the panels and gets them ready-made installed. Those of us doing solar work, it’s from self-effort. The government needs to do better,” Khosa says.

Solar panels are growing in popularity and equipping local communities with the skills to work with them may lead to job creation. Creative thinking that involves the participation of locals may encourage them to create more opportunities from this one.

TVET colleges may also benefit from introducing the different forms of renewable energy into their syllabus and provide skills training.