Ilanga e.V.

Ilanga – Solar Power for Africa e.V.

Ilanga Sonnenkraft für Afrika is a German association that promotes photovoltaics in southern Africa. It was founded in 2020 by people associated with the tour operator Umfulana in Kürten. The name comes from the Zulu language and means “sun.”

Ilanga provides the opportunity to offset a carbon footprint by promoting solar power systems in southern Africa – small, large, on remote farms or in villages and national parks.

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Projects

Why we promote photovoltaics in Africa

Sun in Africa: The sun shines more intensely and reliably in Africa than in Germany. The differences between the seasons are small.
Power Supply: The power supply from the state energy provider is dilapidated. There are many power outages. Photovoltaics thus stabilizes the infrastructure.
CO₂ Balance: Electricity in Southern Africa is generated almost exclusively with coal. The CO₂ balance is extremely poor at approx. 1 ton of CO₂ per megawatt hour.
Infrastructure: Photovoltaics works in a decentralized structure and gives people in a country with weak infrastructure a piece of autonomy and freedom.

How the CO₂ savings are calculated

The yield of a photovoltaic system can be forecast quite accurately, and thus also the savings compared to the coal-fired power generation common today.

An example: A 5 kWp system produces approx. 8000 kWh per year depending on the location. In five years that is 40,000 kWh. Based on the electricity mix common in South Africa, 40 tons of CO₂ are saved by this system in four years.

For every ton of CO₂ that the system saves in the first five years, the operator receives 15 euros. The system can then be subsidized with 600 euros. That is about 10 percent of the purchase price.

How we calculate the funding

The money for the funding comes from people who want to compensate for their CO₂ footprint. For example, from you. Here is an example:

Flight: If you fly from Frankfurt to Cape Town and back, you cause 3.1 tons of CO₂. We charge you 15 euros per ton of CO₂. To compensate for your flight, you pay € 37.20.
Donate: The full amount goes into the promotion of photovoltaic systems. Administrative costs (bank fees, etc.) are covered by membership fees.
GPS Coordinates: As soon as your donation has flowed into a solar system, you will receive a photo of the system and the GPS coordinates.
CO₂ Savings: Damit können Sie sicher sein: Diese Anlage wird in den ersten fünf Jahren die Menge an CO₂ einsparen, die die Spender – darunter auch Sie – mit ihren Flügen verursacht haben.
Added Value: Since the system runs for at least 20 years, it will save at least four times as much CO₂ over its service life as your flight caused.

How we protect ourselves from abuse

: The subsidy only flows after the system has been completed.
: The operators finance the system. We only provide a subsidy.
: The application for funding is made by the operator of the system, not the installation company.
: To do this, he must upload a declaration from the installation company and a declaration of truth.
: The operator assures that the system will not be subsidized a second time.
: After successful verification by our association, the funding goes directly to the operator's account.