Solar Payback is coordinated by the German Solar Association BSW-Solar and eleven partner organisations. It was launched in October 2016 and will end in September 2019. 

The use of solar heat for cleaning, steam production, process heating and surface treatment in manufacturing is still a niche market around the world. “With Solar Payback, we aim to raise awareness about the huge market potential of solar process heat for three reasons: to reduce CO2 emissions, to save energy costs for investors and to sharpen the competitive edge of local industries,” said Jörg Mayer, Managing Director of BSW-Solar. To increase the trust in solar process heat technology Solar Payback supports the construction of a best practise plant. 

To make contact with relevant stakeholders, the project partners will use a wide range of activities and communication tools. In addition, they intend to strengthen the industry by offering training for planners and contractors. Key activity targets include: 

• Drafting a National Solar Process Heat Potential Study
• Developing a financing/business tool for planners and investors to offer preliminary analyses of solar process heat plants 
• Offering training for bankers / investors on financing solar process heat systems
• Developing South African specific information / knowledge that can be used towards informing policy and uptake of solar process heat at national level
• Organising train-the-trainer workshops on planning / designing solar process heat systems 
• Implementing an online matchmaking network for investors and technology providers
• Organising a local industry / stakeholder conference 
• Identifying reference cases in manufacturing and conducting a pre-study of three sites, plus detailed monitoring of one site to facilitate installation of a demonstration system