Study maps out solar, wind strategy for future of African energy development

SAN FRANCISCO - A team from University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has used resource mapping tools and assessed the potential for large solar and wind farms in 21 countries in southern and eastern Africa, concluding that renewable energy has a robust future in much of Africa.

The countries studied, from Libya and Egypt in the north and along the eastern coast to South Africa, include more than half of Africa's population.

"The surprising find is that the wind and solar resources in Africa are absolutely gigantic, and something you could tap into for relatively low cost," said senior author Duncan Callaway, a UC Berkeley associate professor of energy and resources and a faculty scientist at Berkeley Lab.