Solar power plant in Western Cape, South Africa. Approximate location -31.634, 18.5053.
SolarWestern CapeSouth Africa
Vredendal Solar Power Plant is a 10 MW solar power plant in Western Cape, South Africa. It is operated by Solairedirect Southern Africa. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 4,467 homes (estimated). It ranks #105 of 122 South Africa power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2014, it is around 12 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, solar supplies about 8.0% of South Africa's electricity; the national grid averages 699 gCO₂/kWh (17.8% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1026061.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Solairedirect Southern Africa. All plants by this company →
This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a hot semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSh) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 31.6°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 82% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 20/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.
Solar PV loses ~0.35%/°C above 25°C cell temperature — roughly 0.0% at warm-season highs here (estimate).
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
The #36 largest solar power plant of 44 in South Africa by capacity.
South Africa has 44 solar power plants in this dataset, together about 2,313 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -31.634, 18.5053 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
