South African solar panel company investigated over Chinese imports

The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is investigating Durban-based Artsolar over the extent of its local solar panel manufacturing capacity, GroundUp reports.

The government-run investment entity provided R90 million in funding to upgrade Artsolar’s solar assembly and manufacturing plant in New Germany.

Last week, it launched an interlocutory application in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court following an interim gagging order issued by acting Judge Peter Bramdhew on 26 March 2025.

Bramdhew’s order had temporarily stopped three whistleblowers from “defaming” Artsolar over its local solar panel manufacturing claims.

The whistleblowers are two former Artsolar employees Kandace Singh and Shalendra Hansraj, as well as KwaZulu-Natal businessman and former Artsolar customer Brett Latimer.

Latimer accused Artsolar of defrauding his company by inflating panel prices and misrepresenting that its equipment was manufactured locally when it actually came from China.

Hansraj provided a supporting affidavit alleging that 95% of Artsolar’s modules were imported from China while he was working there between July 2019 and January 2024.

The IDC approached the court arguing that the gagging order would hamper its investigation into the allegations.

Acting Judge Paul Wallis agreed with the IDC that it should have been joined in the original proceedings and found that Artsolar had no absolute right of protection from defamatory allegations.

In light of the aims and objectives of the IDC, Wallis amended the order to remove reference to the IDC, enabling the entity to continue investigating the claims raised by the whistleblowers.

According to IDC spokesperson Chimemwe Mwanza, the intention of the IDC’s funding was to upgrade “enhance localisation and import substitution, among other outcomes.

However, it did not require that the company produce a certain number of solar panels.

Artsolar chairman Beninchand Seevnaryan also told GroundUp that the company had never made a “contractual undertaking or representation as to where the panels were built.”

Mwanza also said that the IDC had not established any wrongdoing by the company “at this stage.”

The court hearing for finalising or dismissing the interdict against the whistleblower is scheduled for 29 July 2025.

Small website change before gagging order application

Subsequent to the latest court developments, GroundUp discovered that Artsolar had changed a key description on its website shortly before securing the gagging order.

Using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, it found the original description on the website read as follows:

“As a local manufacturer of solar PV modules (solar panels), we are equipped to provide you with world class solar related products that are internationally certified, locally certified and locally guaranteed.”

The company tweaked this statement by adding “/assembler” after “manufacturer”. While a minor change, its implications are significant due to the big difference between manufacturing and assembly.

South Africa has several local battery assemblers that rely on imported battery cells from China.

These companies sometimes call themselves battery factories or “manufacturers” because they convert all their imported cells into usable battery packs.

This requires adding many more components, including a battery management system and cabling, as well as enclosures to protect the cells and other parts.

Unlike what the whistleblowers have alleged Artsolar is doing with 95% of imported modules, they do not sell raw cells to the public as is.

Artsolar called for 10% solar panel import duty

MyBroadband asked Artsolar for feedback on GroundUp’s findings and the allegations its former employees and customer raised, but it did not respond to our queries.

The company was the first to lobby the government for a 10% duty on solar panel imports, which came into effect in July 2024.

Several solar power installers criticised the tariff as it would make panels more expensive for households and businesses.

Artsolar praised the implementation, arguing it would support local solar panel PV manufacturing and its related value chains.

While it acknowledged that the changes would dismay foreign manufacturers, it maintained that the import tax was a great way to boost the local industry.

“We are expecting new entrants and expanding the locally available value chain due to this protection,” Artsolar added.

Artsolar has frequently promoted itself as a local solar panel manufacturer, including in recent feedback to MyBroadband in response to an article about the 10% tariff.

The company insisted it was “the only solar panel manufacturer” in South Africa.

It also criticised companies that imported solar panels and “religiously propagated community support and the general upliftment of the solar industry” for criticising the government over the import hike.