NAVI ENERGY
Navi Energy is a solar manufacturing and energy company that will be based in Polokwane, Limpopo Province. The solar plant and energy company is based in a region with abundant silicon production, which is the main ingredient of solar cell technology.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE
To set up a vertically integrated local manufacturer of solar panels. This includes wafer manufacturing, solar cell manufacturing and solar panel module assembly.
The wafer plant will comprise of more than 30 CZ Furnaces and wafer cutting and polishing equipment. The Solar grade silicon used here is more than 99.9% pure. After crystal growth in the furnaces, produced ingots are cut using diamond wire cutting machines and polished using grinding and polishing machines before being sliced into wafers. The wafers are then cleaned and packaged as the final product of the plant.
The module plant is where the final product is put together. The Solar cells from the Solar cell process are grouped together, connected, laminated and framed to produce the final product which is solar panels.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The company will operate vertically integrated processes to streamline the manufacture of affordable renewable energy plant in South Africa. This includes wafer production, solar cell manufacturing and solar module assembly. The company will partake in Independent power production and will offer maintenance and installation services together with partners and subsidiaries that will work on batteries, inverters and other essential products.
The business aims to become one of the leading solar manufacturers in South Africa and a leader in Africa. With the Energy crisis and climate change at the top of National debates across the world, Navi Energy is set to become a market leader in the industry, through vertical integration of the manufacturing process bringing value to stakeholders with the lowest value panel.
The employees of Navi Energy will be selected from a pool of certified and highly experienced engineers and technicians in the country. Jobs will range widely from professionals to manual labourers, the processes will cater for technology efficiencies but will also consider labour intensive processes in order to significantly impact high unemployment in South Africa. The business, in addition to suppliers and retailers nationwide, is set to create a downstream industry that will employ more than 100 000 workers when it becomes fully operational. It is expected the business will have a total impact of up to a million South Africans who will benefit in one way or the other.
Navi Energy will be a client-oriented business and everything that will be done will be guided by our values and professional ethics of putting our clients first. The business will ensure that it is held accountable to the highest standards by meeting our client’s needs precisely and completely. At the same time having ISO certification and SABS approved products will hold the bar and flag of “Proudly South African” brand throughout the world.
The business’s main objective is to supply enough renewable energy to the city of Polokwane and the country at large. The business is designed to tick all the boxes, it is financially profitable, technically feasible, good for investors, customer oriented, beneficial to staff and the community, and environmentally friendly. Because the business is viable from all angles, it is expected to continue in a modest growth pattern due to the expected increase in the demand for solar panels and cells.
The business will fall in line with the plans to make Polokwane a metro, due to downstream industry it is set to create. It will create a springboard into advanced silicon, electronics and computer manufacturing that the country is set to grow into.