“Rooftop solar has doubled in a year. If we can double again in (the next) year, it will take care of another 4 levels of load shedding. Great to see how new technology and a do-it-yourself approach are protecting us from an inefficient power monopoly”
This is according to Michael Jordaan, Bank Zero Chairman.
Jordaan tweeted this comment in response to Professor Anton Eberhard‘s reaction to Eskom statistics revealing that South African households and businesses had installed 4.4 gigawatts of rooftop solar PV from March 2022 – June 2023.
Eberhard’s post showed that the country’s installed solar rooftop PV increased from 983 MW in March 2022 to 4,412 MW in June 2023. This is a 349% increase in solar rooftop PV, significantly reducing the residual load that Eskom needs to meet during the day.
Your system does more than just provide you and even your household with relief. It’s providing freedom for everyone. For each panel installed and battery storing that power, you make living slightly easier for your neighbor and contribute to the solution for your country.
Sounds absurd in a country crippled by load shedding? It’s easy to feel that it has no effect, yet the effects are starting to rear its glorious head. RMB estimates that Eskom will be surpassed by private generation, predominantly renewable power generation, as soon as 2025.
The GDP had been so negatively affected by load shedding that it had a -5% in 2022. When the load shedding problem is solved, it can unleash the economic potential of South Africa to be looking at 5% growth rates, something we have not seen for more than a decade. This is according to Roger Baxter, Head of the Minerals Council.
Oprah Winfrey once said: “We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” What we had experienced during the last 15 years, and especially during the last year of exponential increase in load shedding, shows that load shedding could just be what we need to become what we need to be. Without extreme challenges, we will not be inspired to a better future.
The reality is that solar power can reduce load shedding, but it is also undoubtedly better for the environment, our infrastructure, and a host of other advantages.
Solar reduces load shedding, but ultimately it reduces our reliance on Eskom as a power supplier.
