Candidate 1, maxx-solar & energy: Innovative financing solutions for PV in Africa

In 2011 Dieter Ortmann of Germany built a bridge to South Africa and founded a branch office there. "With the goal of bringing training through the newly-founded Solar Academy and becoming a supplier to the installers we train there," says the founder and Managing Director of the Maxx Solar Energy Group, which also recruited the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sonnenenergie to help with training. Now Ortmann is involved in a project that he is so proud of he has thrown his hat into the ring for the Innovation Installation Award sponsored by Hanwha Q CELLS and pv magazine. He has arranged financing for a PV plant on the Dominican Grimley School; a school for the deaf attended by some 100 children. Ortmann thinks of the undertaking as an exemplary project that can act as a model for further PV installations. After all, even though many people are convinced of the benefits of solar energy, the money is often lacking. His partners at the school are nuns, some of them more than 70 years old. "I found it fascinating that people of an advanced age have an appreciation for the role of renewables and energy independence," says Ortmann. "Be more independent" is his motto for the project. At the Grimley School, the motto applies both to energy security and with regard to his helping people help themselves. PV rental as a financing solution"Sure, there's plenty of sunshine; it is definitely worthwhile to go there," says Ortmann. "But the financing is often a problem. Ortmann ...

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