First Solar did not participate as a developer in the first two bidding rounds in South Africa, largely because its attention was focused on other emerging markets, says Johan Cilliers, managing director for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Nor have its modules been publicly linked to any early South African projects, which have seen players like JinkoSolar and Hanwha SolarOne winning large orders.

However, that may change in the third bidding round, which closed this summer.