Housing in Southern Africa May 2016

Energy Efficiency, Green Building & IBTs

SolarAfrica targets sectionals SolarAfrica has launched its new solar energy solution for the sectional title market in South Africa.

T he product offers home owners in complexes and estates ac- cess to affordable solar energy over a 10-year contract period. “The single most important thing about SolarAfrica’s offering is the ability for customers to circumvent the upfront capital which, until now, has always been the biggest barrier to entry,” explains Johan Pienaar, Commercial Director SolarAfrica. According to SolarAfrica, the big- gest barrier to entry on solar energy has been the significant upfront costs amounting to more than 80% of the total operating costs, which has put solar ‘out of reach’ for many South Africans. “South Africa has one of the largest sectional titlemarkets in the world. It makes sense that we provide an alter- native solar solution when we have such a large market relying on the national energy grid,” says Pienaar. SolarAfrica will install, fully oper- ate and maintain the solar panels to the sectional titlemarket. An innova- tive funding model enables custom- ers to acquire solar panels without the upfront capital cost, whereby costs are then reclaimed over the 10 year lifespan of the agreement. The service charge

The reality is that distributed generation is the way of the future. In South Africa, electricity prices have risen since 2008. South Africa is among the top ten countries in the world ideal for renewable energy us- age, indicating that the appetite for alternative energy solutions already exists. In South Africa, standby power us- age sits between 5% - 6%a significant proportion of which is used during the day. Solar energy therefore al- lows South Africans to operate as usual without the incurring the costs associated with this. But as solar takes off, this also means we can expect a rush of in- novations and a decrease in price on the technology itself over the next few years. The SolarAfrica solution is built on a modular system that enables solar optimiser technology, which means it is easily scalable. Add-ons such as energy storage, specifically batteries canbe featured as new tech- nologies emerge. “We are extremely excited about this offering,” says Pienaar. “Our goal at Solar Africa is to make solar energy accessible to South Africans by building simple energy solutions that positively impact the world. We are now able to do this.” For further information contact SolarAfrica on 087 095 0553 or email claire@solarafrica.com ■

offered by the SolarAfrica solution is R1,38 Kw/ph andwill increase only by one percent more than the consumer price index. By comparison, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa approved an Eskom rate hike of 9,4% this year and this is expected to rise by approximately 8%each year in perpetuity. “The results speak for them- selves,” explains Pienaar. “Body corporates can expect to save 15% - 20% of their energy costs which are directly reflected through a reduction in its levies and this financial model means that customers are only pay- ing for the performance of the solar solution.” Further to this, users have access to an online real-time data service, which provides visibility to customers on their energy usage, allowing them tomonitor andmanage their energy. Some of themain reasons formov- ing to solar energy include the desire to hedge costs against those of the increasing energy prices, as well as a growing awareness for environmen- tal sustainability. “There is amove todisrupt the cur- rent energy production infrastructure in South Africa, and also globally. Traditional systems of national power grids are being replaced by the concept of distributed generation,” added Pienaar.

May 2016