Knowledge Centre
Commercial solar and batteries, explained
Plain answers for South African businesses on what commercial solar costs, how municipal tariffs and demand charges work, what the tax rules allow and how to choose a solar partner. Rules and rates come from the documents that set them: tariff schedules, SARS guides and the regulations.
Is solar still worth it for a business in Gauteng?
Load shedding is over and the bill is the problem. What a business kWh costs on the 2026/27 metro tariffs, what a solar kWh is worth against a PPA rate and an owned system’s cost per unit, and what solar does not remove from the bill.
Read the articleHow to choose the right solar EPC partner
Eleven checks before you sign: a track record on projects like yours, plants still in their care, an energy analysis of your own data, a defensible financial model, independent engineering checks, and who owns problems after commissioning.
Read the articleSection 12B solar tax incentive for business
The 125% Section 12BA deduction ended on 28 February 2025. What Section 12B gives a South African business for solar in 2026: what qualifies, who claims it under each way of paying, and when.
Read the articlekVA and maximum demand charges in Gauteng
What the kVA charge on your electricity bill is, why your maximum demand is high, how to reduce it, and how City Power, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni bill it.
Read the articleCity Power electricity tariffs 2026/27
The three business tariffs and who each applies to, the 2026/27 rates, the peak/standard/off-peak clock, what solar changes on each, and three years of increases from the approved schedules.
Read the tariff referenceEkurhuleni electricity tariffs 2026/27
The three main business tariffs from the NERSA-approved schedule, the seasonal peak hours, demand and network access charges, real export credits, and what solar changes on each.
Read the tariff referenceTshwane electricity tariffs 2026/27
Every line up 8.80% on 1 July 2026: the three main business tariffs, the seasonal clock with public holidays billed as the day they fall on, how demand is billed, and what solar changes on each.
Read the tariff referenceMidvaal electricity tariffs 2026/27
Every business tariff rate up 10.00% and no fixed monthly charge: the business tariffs, the printed peak hours, the Off-peak tariff and Miniflex, and what a solar kWh is worth on each.
Read the tariff referenceWhat commercial solar costs in South Africa
Our own price bands per kWp by system size, excluding VAT, what sits inside the price, the site variables that move it, and why quotes for the same roof differ by 30 to 50%.
Read the cost guideCommercial solar & storage glossary
Demand charges, time-of-use tariffs, PPA terms, performance ratio, LCOE and the rest, defined plainly, with worked examples built on Johannesburg tariff structures.
Read the glossary
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