Power to the people: residential solar trends transforming SA
Host: Gordon Brown, publisher of GreenEconomy.Media
South Africa’s installed rooftop solar PV capacity increased 349% from March 2022 (983MW) to June 2023 (4 412MW). Government is actively furthering the uptake of new rooftop solar by easing regulations and with targeted policy. These legislative changes have transformed the market. Rooftop solar is now more accessible to more households, enabling people to become more independent with their electricity usage and to grow the green economy from a base level.
The spin-offs from this rapid adoption of domestic solar include job creation and other positive economic impacts. People are protected from utility pricing in the future and aside from the financial benefits, it has a positive effect on grid stabilisation too. This translates to lower-income South Africans implicitly having improved access to electricity. And the bearing of access to electricity on social challenges is well known.
Heino Louw, General Manager (left) and Daryn Stewart, Head of Sales (right), Menlo Electric South Africa.
Listen to the full episode and uncover:
- Challenges associated with sharp spikes of demand in growth
- To what extent is current demand linked to loadshedding?
- What will drive demand in the future?
- Loadshedding and the costs of infrastructure and electricity prices
- Liberalisation of the energy market
- Spot pricing for peak, standard and off-peak power
- The future role of battery energy storage and inverters
- Quality compromises, equipment failure and safety
- Future trends and current innovations
Menlo Electric is the fastest-growing solar component distributor in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In 2022, the company delivered more than 600MW of renewable energy solutions to more than 30 countries from eight logistics hubs across Europe and Africa. Since expanding into South Africa in January 2023, the company has captured over 10% of the market share. Heino Louw of Menlo Electric comments: