30/08/2026
THREE DAYS. 14 INVERTERS. ALMOST 9 YEARS OF PROVEN RELIABILITY. 🌍☀️
Some solar installations are projects.
Others become part of the infrastructure that keeps an entire operation running.
This Microcare MiniGrid has been powering a major lodge operation deep in the African bush in Zimbabwe, on the banks of the Zambezi River for almost nine years.
And during that time?
No downtime.
That’s almost nine years of reliable operation in an environment where there is no electrical grid to fall back on.
The lodge is completely off-grid, with a generator available only as an emergency backup for extended periods of poor weather.
So when a system like this gets older, you don’t take chances.
The client wanted to modernise the system and, importantly, wanted current-generation spare parts available on site.
The challenge was that the newest Microcare components weren’t simply a direct swap for every component in a system that had been designed almost a decade earlier.
So rather than replacing the entire system, we went back to site and engineered an upgrade around the existing infrastructure.
Our technicians completely rebuilt and upgraded all 14 inverters, integrating the latest Microcare technology into the existing metalwork.
At one point, while rebuilding the equipment, one of our technicians looked at the work and said:
“It looks like we’re performing open-heart surgery.”
And honestly… he wasn’t wrong. 😄
This was a serious operation.
The lodge was operating with guests on site, so we carefully changed over to generator supply while our team carried out the work.
Our technicians worked long days — and late into the nights — in an incredibly remote environment.
The entire project was completed in just three days on site.
Then came the moment of truth.
We changed the lodge back from generator supply to the upgraded Microcare MiniGrid.
First-time successful startup.
No prolonged downtime.
No second commissioning visit.
No disruption to the guests.
Just a system that went straight back into service.
And now the client has something that is just as important as the upgrade itself:
They have current-generation Microcare technology and compatible spare parts available on site.
If something should ever happen to a component in the future, they aren’t dependent on finding an obsolete part from almost a decade ago.
They can use current Microcare components and get the system back up and running.
🇿🇦 This is the advantage of local manufacturing.
When you buy a system manufactured locally, you’re not just buying the hardware.
You’re buying the people who designed it.
The factory that built it.
The technicians who understand it.
And the ability to engineer, modify, upgrade and support that system years after it was originally installed.
Even when it’s sitting in the middle of nowhere.
Even when the lodge is full of guests.
Even when there is only one chance to get it right.
Almost nine years of operation.
Zero downtime.
Fourteen inverters rebuilt.
Three days on site.
One successful startup.
Microcare — powering Africa, wherever the road ends. 🌍☀️
