Solar is becoming Africa's default power source, analysis finds

PANM — Solar power is spreading across Africa fast enough that it is becoming the standard choice for homes and businesses that once relied on diesel generators, according to an analysis published by the German broadcaster DW.

Joel Nana, a project manager at the South African organisation Sustainable Energy Africa, estimated from Chinese export data that around 100,000 solar panels were installed across Africa every day in 2026 — 45 per cent more than the year before. The figure comes from a report he wrote for African Tech Futures Lab and the energy think tank Ember.

Why solar is winning

Many rural areas on the continent are not connected to an electricity grid, and where there is a connection the supply is often unreliable, Nana told DW. Diesel was the usual fallback, but imported fuel is expensive and leaves users exposed to swings in the oil price.

Solar now undercuts it. Nana said some businesses recover the cost of their panels within two years. Sub-Saharan Africa also receives more sunshine than almost anywhere else in the world.

DW's analysis names Namibia, South Africa, Kenya and Senegal among the countries that have expanded solar capacity sharply in recent years. In Ethiopia, it reports, farmers who used diesel pumps for irrigation are switching to solar.

What comes next

Kingsmill Bond, an energy strategist at Ember, told DW that emerging economies are leapfrogging the fossil-fuel stage that Europe and the United States went through, and that solar combined with batteries can supply cheap electricity most of the time.

Nana expects a wave of new energy regulation across African countries in the coming months and years, as governments move to build the technology into national plans. The challenge, he said, is making sure the benefits are widely shared.

This report is based on reporting by DW.