Design
The numbers are decided before anything is installed.
Feasibility, engineering design, financial modelling and grid studies — sized from your interval meter data, so the investment case your board sees is the one the asset can actually deliver.
Who this is for
Built for the person who signs off the capital
A solar or battery system is a R5M–R50M asset decision. The design phase exists so that decision is made on evidence.
CFOs and boards
Weighing an energy investment against other uses of capital, and needing payback, IRR and risk stated plainly.
Facilities and operations managers
Responsible for uptime and energy cost, and needing a system that matches the site's real load — not a generic quote.
Property owners and funds
Evaluating solar across one site or a portfolio, and needing consistent, comparable feasibility work for each.
What's included
Everything a bankable design requires
One design phase covers the technical, financial and regulatory groundwork — so nothing surfaces mid-build that should have been resolved on paper.
Feasibility study
We start from your interval meter data — half-hourly consumption, not annual averages — so the system is sized against how your site actually uses power, hour by hour, season by season.
Engineering design
Structural assessment, electrical single-line diagrams, equipment selection and layout drawings. The design pack is complete enough to build from and to audit later.
Financial modelling
A full cash-flow model: capital cost, tariff escalation, degradation, maintenance and payback. Presented as a board-ready investment case, not a sales brochure.
Grid studies & SSEG applications
Network impact assessment and the Small-Scale Embedded Generation application with your municipality or Eskom, managed end to end so the system can legally export and operate.
Tariff analysis
We model your current tariff structure against the proposed system so the savings figure reflects the rates you actually pay — including demand charges and time-of-use bands.
How it works
From electricity bill to board decision
Data collection
You tell us your monthly electricity usage, and we'll ask for a copy of your bill once we scope the system; where available we install or read an interval meter to capture your true load profile.
Modelling & sizing
We simulate system options against your load profile and tariff, and stress-test the assumptions rather than picking the flattering scenario.
Engineering & approvals
Detailed design, structural and electrical documentation, and the grid connection application for the selected option.
Investment case
A single document your board can decide on: system specification, capital or PPA options, projected savings, payback and IRR — with the assumptions stated.
Built and measured
The design is only as good as the year-one numbers
Terrazzo Shopping Centre on Gordon Road was sized from the site's interval data and modelled before a panel was ordered — the layout study pictured is where it started. In its first year the 285 kWp system produced 456 MWh, saved R857 000 and put the project on a 4-year payback at 30% IRR — the outcome the design phase existed to secure.
Common questions
Design & feasibility FAQs
What does a feasibility study include?
A load analysis built on your interval meter data, system sizing options, a tariff-specific savings model, and a financial summary covering capital cost, payback and IRR. You get the assumptions as well as the outputs, so the numbers can be interrogated.
Why does interval meter data matter?
Two sites with identical monthly bills can have very different half-hourly profiles. A system sized on averages is usually oversized or undersized. Interval data lets us match generation to actual consumption, which is what determines the real financial return.
What is an SSEG application and do I need one?
Small-Scale Embedded Generation registration is the approval process municipalities and Eskom require before a grid-tied system may operate. Most commercial systems need one. We prepare and manage the application as part of the design phase.
Am I committed to building with Focal if you do the design?
No. The design and feasibility work stands on its own. In practice most clients continue with us because the team that modelled the payback remains accountable for delivering it, but the design pack is yours.
How accurate are the projections?
We publish measured results against our models. At Kimbult Industrial Park, the 547 kWp system we designed produced 699 MWh in its first year and saved R1.54 million — in line with the pre-build model. That comparison is the standard we hold every design to.
See what your site could save.
Tell us your monthly electricity usage and we'll model your consumption, system options and payback — numbers you can put in front of a board.