South Africa Solar Tracker Market Overview, 2030

Major deployments in the Northern Cape province, where some of the largest solar farms in the nation are located, have contributed significantly to the growth of South Africa's solar tracker market. Due to its strong solar irradiance, this area is perfect for trackers with one or two axes, which allow solar panels to track the sun's route and increase energy production. Initiatives like the Kathu Solar Park and others under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP) demonstrate how crucial trackers have become for utility-scale deployments. But because many of these farms are located in isolated and sparsely populated areas, anti-theft measures like tamper-proof designs and embedded monitoring sensors are essential for the development of trackers in order to safeguard valuable assets. South Africa's trackers are increasingly being incorporated into hybrid solar-diesel systems, especially in remote industrial sites and off-grid mining operations. In these hybrid configurations, trackers are essential in increasing the amount of solar energy produced during daylight hours, hence lowering dependence on pricey diesel fuel. Engineering innovations designed specifically for the dusty and windy environment prevalent in South African deserts and semi-arid regions ensure long-term resilience and operational effectiveness. In order to address environmental problems, characteristics such as self-cleaning surfaces, reinforced mechanical structures, and corrosion-resistant materials have been integrated. The use of tracker technology in community-based solar farms in South Africa is another notable example. These projects often offer electricity to rural communities that are underrepresented by the national grid, promoting energy independence and local economic growth. Solar trackers will continue to be a key component in both business and community-level renewable energy landscapes as South Africa increases its renewable energy targets. The adaptability of tracker systems allows for greater energy harvesting from smaller-scale installations, making them financially feasible for municipal and cooperative ownership models.

According to the research report, ""South Africa Solar Tracker Market Overview, 2030,"" published by Bonafide Research, the South Africa Solar Tracker market is anticipated to grow at more than 15.05% CAGR from 2025 to 2030. South Africa's continuous attempts to lessen its reliance on fossil fuels and alleviate its ongoing power shortages are directly related to this growth trajectory. Due to its heavy reliance on outdated coal-fired power facilities, the national grid has experienced several load-shedding incidents, increasing the need for more dependable renewable energy alternatives. As the nation speeds up its shift towards a varied and reliable energy mix, solar trackers have become an essential tool for increasing the effectiveness of solar PV projects. The creation of off-grid hybrid tracker systems, intended for use in locations distant from central infrastructure, is a significant market driver. These hybrid arrangements, which often combine solar panels with battery storage systems or diesel generators, are particularly common in the mining industry, agriculture, and distant settlements. Solar trackers' capacity to maximize daily solar yield reduces fuel dependency, lowers operational expenses, and helps advance sustainability objectives for businesses that work in remote locations. As a major participant in South Africa's renewable energy sector, Scatec Solar has been at the forefront of integrating cutting-edge tracker technologies into large-scale projects. Grid-connected solar plants, hybrid projects, and off-grid initiatives are all part of the company's portfolio, which utilizes single-axis tracking systems to increase efficiency. The integration of solar trackers with battery energy storage systems (BESS) is a major development impacting the industry. By storing extra solar production for use during high demand or after sunset, this combination improves grid stability. This is especially crucial in the context of South Africa, where load shedding schedules may be unpredictable.

The adoption of solar trackers by axis type is essential to improving project efficiency in South Africa's changing solar energy industry, notably in hybrid and utility-scale projects. Since their cost-effectiveness and mechanical simplicity, single-axis trackers are the most popular in the market. These trackers often turn along one axis, east to west, following the sun's path across the sky. With energy yield gains ranging from 15% to 25% depending on the site, this enables solar panels to collect more sunlight throughout the day than fixed-tilt systems. South Africa's solar radiation is so good, especially in places like the Northern Cape, single-axis trackers have grown to be the norm in massive solar farms, providing a compelling trade-off between performance improvements and installation expenditures. However, dual-axis trackers, which adjust both vertically and horizontally to follow the sun's path more accurately, are also becoming increasingly popular, albeit their use is still somewhat restricted. These systems offer a potential efficiency gain of up to 35% or more when compared to fixed systems, making them especially appealing for hybrid solar systems or smaller, high-yield applications in off-grid environments. In locations where land use maximization is crucial or where there are varied topographies, dual-axis trackers are also taken into consideration. Nonetheless, for the time being, their widespread use has been restricted in favor of single-axis systems due to their greater initial expenditures, mechanical complexity, and maintenance needs. In response to the severe environmental challenges facing the South African solar industry, such as high winds, dust, and theft concerns at remote locations, tracker design has been improved. Single-axis models are now incorporating anti-theft measures and reinforced structures more frequently.

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) is the most prevalent technology in South Africa's solar tracker environment, and it serves as the foundation for the nation's renewable energy development. When combined with tracking solutions, notably single-axis trackers, solar PV systems can greatly increase energy production by maximizing the angle of solar exposure. Its scalability, reduced initial expenses, and applicability for both utility-scale and distributed uses, PV installations have emerged as the preferred option, especially in provinces like the Northern Cape, which experiences high solar irradiation. Recent advancements in bifacial photovoltaic panels coupled with trackers have increased efficiency even more by using sunlight reflected off the ground, a breakthrough that is especially useful in the nation's dry areas with reflective desert landscapes. In contrast, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) has also been a priority in South Africa's renewable strategy, particularly under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). Since CSP facilities depend on mirrors or lenses that focus sunlight onto receivers, they naturally need dual-axis trackers to keep the alignment with the sun's rays as perfect as possible. Notably, CSP projects like Kathu Solar Park and Bokpoort CSP demonstrate the viability of this method for dispatchable solar energy, which is frequently coupled with thermal storage systems to prolong electricity production beyond daylight hours. The widespread usage of CSP systems has been constrained, though, in comparison to PV-based systems due to its high costs and complicated maintenance requirements because of its vulnerability to diffuse sunlight, higher capital costs, and lack of local expertise, concentrated photovoltaic (CPV), which also needs dual-axis trackers for accurate solar alignment, has only seen limited deployment in South Africa.

In South Africa's developing solar energy industry, solar tracker systems are mostly employed in ground-mounted solar installations, particularly for utility-scale applications. By monitoring the path of the sun throughout the day, these plants, which are frequently found in sunny provinces like the Northern Cape, use single-axis tracking systems to greatly increase energy production. The importance of ground-mounted solutions is demonstrated by the success of large-scale initiatives like the De Aar Solar Farm and Jasper Solar Energy Project. Tracker deployment is ideal in South Africa's level, open terrain, where there is plenty of room to support large panel arrays and dual-axis tracker systems in concentrated solar power (CSP) plants like Bokpoort CSP. In order to address site-specific issues prevalent in remote locations, tracker systems have incorporated innovations such as anti-theft designs and dust-resistant components. In contrast, the market share for tracker installations on roofs is significantly smaller, largely because of the structural restrictions and higher expenses associated with installing trackers on roofs. The majority of rooftop systems in South Africa are static because they are simple to use and inexpensive to install. In order to optimize solar capture on big, flat-roofed buildings, however, motorized tilting racks or simpler tracking mechanisms are being studied in industrial parks, commercial complexes, and certain municipal structures. Rooftop-mounted trackers are becoming more prevalent in hybrid energy solutions, particularly in off-grid or rural microgrid systems, where each extra watt of solar output is essential for lowering dependence on diesel generators because of the country's need for dependable, utility-scale renewable energy generation, ground-mounted solar trackers will continue to be the foundation of South Africa's solar expansion activities for the foreseeable future, even as solar storage integration gains popularity alongside trackers, particularly in industrial and mining operations, making rooftop-mounted trackers more feasible where land availability is limited.

Considered in this report
• Historic Year: 2019
• Base year: 2024
• Estimated year: 2025
• Forecast year: 2030

Aspects covered in this report
• Solar Tracker Market with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Technology
• Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
• Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
• Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV)

By Installation Type
• Ground-Mounted
• Rooftop-Mounted Show more