Should you rent or own your solar power system? LookSee’s Marc du Plessis has the answer
South Africans have more alternative energy options than ever, but the decision on how to finance their power purchases is still a tough one to make. LookSee Executive Head Marc du Plessis weighs in on the value and cost of owning or renting your solar solution.
South Africa’s electricity crisis has prompted many citizens to seek alternative sources to meet their energy needs. For many, that alternative is solar power. But for everyone who’s interested, they need to ask themselves an important question: Should you rent or own your solar power system?
To answer that question, Marc du Plessis, Executive Head of LookSee.co.za, Standard Bank's home efficiency platform, gave a series of interviews that explored the topic of solar installations and how South Africans can go “off-grid”.
According to Du Plessis, renting and owning are directly linked to a person’s use case or living situation. If a person is renting a property and their landlord is uninterested in investing in solar power, or if they are planning to move on from that property in the short term, then a solar rental would be the ideal solution.
Meanwhile, if a person purchases or finances a solar installation, then that installation is theirs to keep once the purchase amount or debt obligation has been paid.
“The key issue that customers need to think about which is very positive in solar is that it’s a production asset. It produces real rands. Every kilowatt hour that that solar panel produces for you is worth money,” he explains.
The pros of owning your solar power system include:
- Reduced electricity bills over a long-term period
- Increased property values
- Longer warranties on equipment such as solar panels and inverters
- Tax rebates on qualifying solar panels brought into use by 29 February 2024
As Du Plessis notes, the financial implications of renting are very different to the implications of owning a solar installation. Calculating and knowing your power needs is also important when it comes to choosing what size installation you will require. The next step is to work out your budget and, with financing options such as Standard Bank’s LookSee Solar Loan, owning your system becomes more affordable.
To find out more about whether renting or owning solar installations is right for you, click here to listen to Marc’s interview.
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