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18 October 2016

The value of solar PV is mostly derived from replacing relatively expensive electricity with ‘free’ electricity, rather than making money from selling excess electricity to the grid. Solar PV costs in South Africa has fallen from an average of R3.3514 per kWh in 2011 to average of R0.90 per kWh in the fourth round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). 

Opportunities: Fast facts

  • The creation of an enabling environment for the sustainable uptake of small scale embedded generation technologies in Western Cape, will drive the large scale uptake of rooftop PV in the province.

  • The market in installation, operation and maintenance of rooftop PV is estimated at R2bn over the period 2016 to 2019, with the potential to create 3000 jobs over that period.

  • Currently there is more than 94 MW of installed rooftop PV in South Africa, of which 18 MW is in the Western Cape.

For more information on our work in this space see the Renewable Energy page and Energy Services page.