Buy outright
Own itR0
net benefit over 20 years
- Upfront
- Saving, year 1
- Payback
- Return (IRR)
Home / Commercial & Industrial
Solar for business, with or without capital
Rooftop, carport and ground-mount solar with battery storage for offices, factories, farms, cold storage and lodges. Buy it outright, fund it over 5 years, or pay only for the power it produces through a 10 to 20 year PPA.
8.76% / 9.01%Eskom and municipal tariff increases approved by NERSA for 2026/27
20–40%typical PPA discount below your current grid energy rate
100%Section 12B deduction in year one for owned solar PV up to 1 MW
R0upfront on a PPA, funded through Fibon Energy for projects from R1.5 million
Business solar calculator
Compare buying, funding and a PPA
Tell us about your site and electricity bill. We size a system to your daytime load and compare three ways to pay for it, year by year.
- Solar array
- 0kWp
- Solar per year
- 0MWh
- Your use from solar
- Indicative cost
- R0 excl. VAT
Fund over 5 years
Own itR0
net benefit over 20 years
- Upfront
- Instalment
- Net, year 1
- From year 6
Solar PPA
R0 upfrontR0
net benefit over 20 years
- Upfront
- R0
- PPA tariff
- Saving, year 1
- Maintenance
- Included
Cumulative net position
Buy outright5-year fundingPPA
Year-by-year table
| Year | Grid energy rate | PPA tariff | Solar used | Buy outright | 5-year funding | PPA |
|---|
Request a proposal for this system
Indicative, before tax unless 12B is switched on. Solar yield about 1,600 kWh per kWp a year (Gauteng), 0.5% yearly panel degradation, owner maintenance and insurance at 1% of cost a year. Solar costs are based on 2026 published budget pricing for commercial systems, excluding VAT. Battery storage is costed at R5,500 per kWh. PPA tariffs default to 20–40% below your energy rate, in line with current South African PPA terms, and are paid on all energy the system produces. The PPA comparison covers the solar part only, because batteries are priced separately. Section 12B is shown at 27% company tax: 100% in year one for PV up to 1 MW, and 50/30/20 above that. Ask your tax adviser. A Gridtek proposal follows a site assessment and a review of 12 months of your bills.
Energy management system
Managed by EnergiTrack, so the savings keep growing
Solar and storage only pay off fully when they are run well. Every Gridtek commercial system is controlled and monitored through the EnergiTrack EMS.
Every Gridtek system runs on the EnergiTrack EMS
EnergiTrack is an industrial energy operating system for edge control, fleet monitoring, analytics and optimisation. www.energitrack.com
Arbitrage
Charges the battery when power is cheap, from solar or off-peak tariffs, and uses it when power is expensive.
Peak shaving
Caps your maximum demand by discharging the battery when load spikes, cutting demand charges on your bill.
Demand shifting
Moves flexible loads such as pumps, cold rooms and water heating into solar and off-peak hours.
Financial reports
Savings, energy flows and system performance in a report, at the touch of a button.
Solar power purchase agreement
No capital. Cheaper power from day one.
With a PPA, Gridtek designs, installs and maintains the solar system on your site, and our funding partner Fibon Energy pays for it and owns it. You pay a fixed rate per kWh for the power it produces, set below what you pay the grid today.
- Site assessmentWe review 12 months of bills, your load profile and roof or ground space.
- ProposalSystem size, year-one tariff, escalation and term, with the projected saving.
- Install at no cost to youCertified installation, grid-tie approvals and commissioning.
- Pay per kWhOne monthly invoice for the solar energy produced, metered and reported.
- End of termBuy the system, extend the agreement at a lower rate, or have it removed.
Typical PPA terms
- Term
- 10 to 20 years
- Upfront cost
- R0
- Year-one tariff
- Usually 20–40% below your grid energy rate
- Escalation
- Fixed (commonly 5–7%) or CPI-linked, usually below utility increases
- Payment basis
- Per kWh produced (take-or-pay), so the system is sized to your daytime load
- Maintenance & insurance
- Included, with monitoring and performance guarantees
- Ownership
- Fibon Energy during the term
- Minimum project
- R1.5 million (excl. VAT)
- End of term
- Buy-out, extend or removal
- Credit check
- Business financials and site lease or ownership
These reflect common terms in the South African commercial PPA market in 2026. Your proposal sets the exact figures.
5-year funding at a glance
- Term
- 5 years (60 monthly instalments)
- Deposit
- From 0%
- Funder
- Fibon Energy, our funding partner
- Minimum project
- R1.5 million (excl. VAT)
- Rate
- Linked to prime, subject to credit approval
- Ownership
- Yours, so the system stays on your balance sheet
- Tax
- Section 12B: 100% deduction in year one for PV up to 1 MW
- After year 5
- No more instalments. The full saving is yours.
Fund it over 5 years
Own the system and let the savings pay for it
For most sites the monthly saving is larger than the instalment, so the system pays for itself from the first month. After five years the instalments stop and you keep the full saving for the life of the system.
Funding covers the whole project, not just the panels: battery storage, boreholes and water storage, heat pumps and cooling can all go into one agreement. See integrated ecosystems.
Sectors
Built around how your site uses power
Agriculture
Irrigation, packhouses, cold rooms and borehole pumping, with solar sized to daytime pumping loads.
Manufacturing
Daytime production lines are a natural match for solar. Batteries cut peak demand charges.
Cold storage & food
Refrigeration peaks with the midday sun. Smart control pre-cools on surplus solar.
Offices & retail
Weekday HVAC and lighting loads, plus carport solar that shades parking.
Hospitality & lodges
Remote sites where solar and storage replace diesel and keep guests comfortable.
Mining & 24/7 sites
Large ground-mount arrays and BESS for continuous operations and backup.
Get a proposal for your site
Send us 12 months of bills and we'll come back with options for buying outright, 5-year funding and a PPA.