Solar used to be about keeping the lights on. Not any more.
There's a part of that most people miss. It isn't only the rate per unit going up. The fixed monthly charge on your bill has been rising faster than the rate itself, which means your bill can go up in a month where you actually used less.
Solar won't change what your municipality charges. What it does is take the largest part of your bill and put it back under your control.
They're different systems. We build the second kind, unless you tell us you want the first.
What will it actually save me?
That depends on how much electricity you use and when you use it, so we work it out from your last twelve months of bills rather than guessing from your roof.
What we can tell you before we arrive is that the saving comes from using your own power rather than buying it. Which brings up the question everyone asks.
Do I need a battery?
Usually, yes, and it's worth knowing why rather than just being sold one.
Your house uses most of its electricity early in the morning and again in the evening. Your panels produce in the middle of the day, when the house is often empty. Without somewhere to put that daytime power, you sell it back to the grid for a fraction of what you pay to buy it back at supper time.
A unit of electricity you use yourself is worth considerably more than one you sell back, because it's bought from you for a great deal less than it's sold to you. A battery is simply what lets you keep it.
For most homes, comfortably. Panels take up less room than people expect, and a household system uses a manageable stretch of roof.
What matters as much as space is which way the roof faces, how steep it is, whether trees or a neighbouring building shade it during the day, and what condition the roof covering is in. Wind matters too, so how the panels are fixed down isn't a detail we rush. We look at all of this on site rather than off a satellite photo.
There's a great deal more sun in midsummer than there is in midwinter, and every system has to live with that.
Build for winter and you have an expensive system that's oversized for most of the year. Build for the annual average and you'll be buying more in winter, exactly when you're heating water and running lights for longer. There's a real judgement call in there, and it's one we'd rather make with you than for you.
Not everyone wants to put the full amount down at once. Bank finance, solar-specific loans, rent-to-own arrangements and monthly subscription options all exist in South Africa.
They aren't all equal, and the cancellation terms in particular are worth reading properly before you sign anything. We'll talk you through what suits you.
Panels are the least of your worries. They lose a small fraction of their output each year in a predictable way, and good ones carry very long guarantees. Inverters and batteries carry shorter ones, which is normal and not a red flag.
One question worth asking any installer, including us: what does the battery guarantee actually promise? Some are satisfied if the battery still holds a good deal less than it started with, which sounds like a technicality until the day you need it. We'll show you exactly what yours says rather than leaving you to find out later.
A home has to buy a battery to store daytime power for the evening. A business is usually open and using it as it's produced. Batteries are the single most expensive part of a system, so needing less of one often means a business gets a better return on a cheaper system.
What it costs
It depends almost entirely on whether you need storage. A rooftop system without a battery costs considerably less than the same system with one, and for most daytime businesses that's exactly the right trade.
We quote from your actual consumption rather than your floor area, so the first thing we ask for is twelve months of bills.
One thing to check early
If your premises is on a standard single-phase supply, there's a ceiling on how much solar you're permitted to feed back. Going beyond it means upgrading the supply, which is a council charge and a council waiting period, not something an installer controls.
It's far better to find that out during the first site visit than after you have paid a deposit, so it's one of the first things we look at.
At this scale the roof sets the ceiling, but your consumption pattern sets the target. We work from your metered data so the system is built around how the site genuinely runs, including the shifts and seasons that make it lumpy.
A large electricity bill has several different charges on it, and solar only reduces one of them. Some proposals quietly value every unit of solar at the most expensive rate on the account, which makes the payback look dramatically better than it really is.
A well-built commercial system is a genuinely good investment. It's just not an overnight one, and anyone telling you otherwise has done something to the arithmetic. We'll show you which rate we have applied and why.