Against the backdrop of an energy and electricity constrained environment, limited driving policy and a finite fossil resource, there has been a positive move forward towards consideration of alternative energy technologies. Electricity constraints over the year of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 drove a large uptake of small-scale embedded generation at household and commercial level, the result of this was a boom in the solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery industries; having a knock on effect of technology innovation, as well as a positive effect on cost reduction particularly for batteries. While there may not be policies that are specifically conducive to driving alternative energy uptake, outside of grid, there are no policies prohibiting this, therefore when the need arose, industry and the general public were able to harness current innovative technologies available in the market and drive these forwards. In the midst of this, government implemented beneficial systems such as tax rebates for those that opt for alternative energy technologies.

Government’s policies are designed to ensure energy supply diversity within a primarily fossil fuel reliant electricity mix. A number of policies support this drive towards an energy mix, including alternative energy technologies, not least of these is the Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) and the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2023) for the country.

Since solar PV, either with or without battery storage, was the immediate go to response under electricity constrained conditions, it is logical that the technology innovation in this area leaped forward to meet the demand. Over the past 24 months there has been a significant increase in solar PV panel efficiency, lifetime, longevity and technology robustness. This has led to a marked uptake in the technology, as well as a positive impact on technology reputation through proven performance at a large scale. South Africa saw an uptake of 4.6 GW of embedded generation during the peak of the load shedding crisis, this has proven that a significant impact can be made outside of government driven initiatives.