Solar’s engineering challenge shifts to everyday energy use

The easing of load shedding has changed what South African households need from solar systems, shifting the engineering focus from emergency backup towards using solar and battery capacity more effectively during normal daily operation.

This is according to Martin du Plooy, R&D manager at Stage Zero, who points out that the last few years saw residential solar products developed largely around the need to keep households powered when the grid was unavailable. As load shedding eased sharply during 2024, Stage Zero began re-evaluating how its systems were configured and what customers needed them to achieve.

“When load shedding was really prevalent, it almost sold the product for us. Nobody questioned why they needed a battery,” says du Plooy. “But now that it has subsided, the questions should be, what can solar and battery actually do for me?”

Stage Zero was able to respond over several months because its product development and R&D capabilities are in-house. The shift required the team to reconsider the balance between solar generation and battery storage, rather than simply increasing installed solar capacity.

Du Plooy says adding more panels does not necessarily deliver the outcome a customer expects if the wider system has not been configured appropriately.

“When load shedding was at its worst, the battery’s job was simple: keep the lights on when the grid dropped,” says du Plooy. “Now that the grid is more stable, it is about using the solar you are generating everyday, rather than just having backup sitting there.

“People think more panels are the answer. It isn’t. During the day, the system needs to be doing two things at once – running the house off of solar and putting enough aside to charge the battery for later. Get that balance wrong, and you end up buying power from the grid at night, even though you had plenty of sun that day,” he says.

This has also changed the role battery storage can play in residential solar. During periods of heavy load shedding, battery capacity was closely associated with how long a household could remain powered during an outage. As cost optimisation became a greater priority, stored solar energy could also be used to reduce reliance on grid electricity after daylight hours.

Stage Zero says this does not mean households necessarily need to pursue complete energy independence.

“Going fully off-grid is a different game. There is no grid to fall back on, so on cloudy days and high demand periods, the system has to get through on its own,” says du Plooy. “That means a lot more battery, which changes the financial equation for most households”

That gap however, is where Stage Zero’s R&D focus is heading next. “That is what we are chasing next, not only bigger batteries, but smarter use,” adds du Plooy. “If you can shift when a house actually draws power, like when the geyser runs, you need less battery to cover the same gap. That is the real way to get closer to off-grid, not just throwing more capacity at it.”

Instead, Stage Zero focuses on how solar generation, battery storage and available grid electricity can work together to support household demand. Solar can carry more of the load while it is available, with stored energy extending its usefulness into the evening and grid supply available when required.

According to du Plooy, changes in the market have made system optimisation a more important part of residential solar engineering.

Backup still matters, but the question customers are increasingly asking is a simpler one: can solar and battery actually save them money.

“Electricity prices only go one way,” says du Plooy, “so the real value is what the system saves you month-to-month, not just what it does in an emergency. And if load shedding does come back, you aren’t starting from nothing, the system has already been managing its own battery to get the best out of every day, so you are covered, either way.”

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