GreenSun, a renewable energy engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company, has launched what it calls the first residential power purchase agreement (PPA) in South Africa.
EnergyEase is designed to optimise energy savings for homeowners through an energy-as-a-service model, says Xavier Louw , CEO of GreenSun. This approach allows users to pay only for the energy they consume, rather than a fixed monthly fee, offering a more flexible and potentially cost-effective solution compared to traditional fixed-rate PPAs and rental agreements, which are prevalent in the commercial sector.
Our research indicates that theres no other formal PPA offering like this in South Africa for residential properties. Most existing options are rental agreements, whereas EnergyEase is based on actual usage. This means you pay only for the energy you use, making the cost variable and directly tied to your consumption, he says.
While PPAs have become popular, most of them are in the commercial sector. 80% of installations are in the commercial sector. We decided to apply the same model in the residential sector, where the rooftop space is larger, says Xavier.
How it worksEnergyEase was softly launched in July, after several years of development since 2019. The system involves installing a solar array on the homeowners property. The system includes solar panels, a mounting structure, batteries, an inverter, and a meter. The EnergyEase meter functions as a priority meter, recording solar-generated consumption and integrating with an app-based wallet system for payment management.
For example, if you use 1 000 kWh per month, you pay 70% of your power through our prepaid meter, and only 30% from council. While the 30% is more expensive, 70% of the power from our system is cheaper, which gives the client an overall benefit. The customer is not being double-charged because the municipality or Eskom meter readings are not being reflected on our meter, says Andeon Louw, Sales and Marketing Director of GreenSun.
This setup aims to achieve 70-80% grid independence, with solar energy used to offset a significant portion of the homeowners electricity needs. Depending on the customer usage, it can be anything from a 5 kW to a 20 kW system, with the battery starting at 10 kWh , says Xavier.
However, this does not mean the homeowners property can go off-grid. The property is still connected to the national grid, but the client gets the best value for money as their property is prioritised all solar energy generated goes to their house first before any excess power is fed back to the grid, he says.
The client is responsible for paying the fixed costs associated with still being connected to the national grid, as well as the variable costs associated with pulling from the grid during months when there was not enough solar energy.
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