With its global annual horizontal irradiation range of 2,050–2,920 kWh/m2, the state of California has become the largest solar market in the United States and is among the most competitive solar markets globally. Naturally, there will be resource constraints with regard to replicating such success but the African Development Bank (AfDB) says that Botswana’s own solar irradiation rate falls within the same range and should be commercially exploited.
According to Botswana’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity (which was published in 2020), the country receives over 3 200 hours of sunshine per year, with an average insolation on a flat surface of 21 MJ/m.
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