eBusiness Weekly
Ishemunyoro Chingwere Business Writer
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) is in the process of taking delivery of a mobile laboratory that will be used to fish out sub-standard solar gadgets which the regulator said had proliferated on the market.
The impending arrival of the mobile laboratory was revealed by the energy regulator’s Consumer Services Manager Engineer Nobert Matarutse on the sidelines of a Renewable Energy Expo and Conference which was organised by Zimpapers’ Bold Ads Events under the theme “The status of energy in Zimbabwe and innovative alternatives.”
Presenting a paper at the Expo and Conference, Tawanda Muzamwese — an energy expert said one of the challenges afflicting solar uptake was that the market is littered with products that do not perform to the standards claimed by their suppliers.
Engineer Matarutse conceded to this anomaly and said it was for that reason that the energy regulator had invested in a mobile laboratory and will soon be unleashed onto the market in a bid to protect consumer interests.
He said most of the suppliers engaging in the malpractice were not registered with Zera and thus appealed to consumers to buy solar products from Zera registered suppliers whose products conform to set rules and regulations and can be held accountable for their actions.
“We are quite aware that in the market, we have some unscrupulous dealers who are selling solar products which do not meet our standards,” Engineer Matarutse told Business Weekly.
“So we are in the process of taking delivery of a mobile lab which we will use to test solar gadgets.
“Once we establish that the capacity that is inscribed on them, does not relate to what they actually do when you put them out in the sun, we are going to confiscate them and the seller can actually be arrested for that.
“So we are warning members of the public that they need to deal with reputable suppliers of solar products, if you are not sure as to whether who is reputable and who is not, please, just a phone call to Zera will be able to address that,” he said.
Speaking at the same event, Energy and Power Development Deputy Minister Magna Mudyiwa urged the private sector to consider financing renewable power generation projects which she said are a high returns and less risk sector largely due to the power deficit affecting the country.
This is against the background that Zera has to date issued 42 independent solar power producer licences but only nine of these have commenced site works with the rest struggling to get financing.
“Many companies have acquired licences with Zera for power projects, but they were just acquiring these licences with no funding,” she said.
“So, we are encouraging financiers with money to consider this sector for their loans.
“You can’t go wrong with power generation because we have a very big deficit of electricity, and the deficit is not only in Zimbabwe by the way, it’s across the region, so power is actually an export industry.”
