Discovery Green recently conducted extensive research into how South African companies are investing in sustainable energy.
“We believe there is currently a pronounced bias towards solar energy and while the immediate financial benefits of solar energy are clear, there is a tendency to overlook the long-term consequences, opting instead for short-term gains,” said Andre Nepgen, Head of Discovery Green.Discovery Green’s study found that companies over-investing in solar – particularly embedded systems – may experience weaker long-term value due to “wasted” power.
Furthermore, when the sun is down, and solar energy cannot be used, a company must still source electricity from other sources. This will include the national electricity grid. This is up from 48% for companies that don’t have their own embedded solar generation and shows that solar primarily replaces a business’s peak electricity consumption – and does little to address “off-peak” electricity costs.
Companies must note, however, that providers of wheeled solar are also likely to use time-of-use billing.