, one of South Africa’s largest distributors of solar and electrical solutions, to launch SolarBot, an intelligent controller for home solar and battery systems.
SolarBot also works with HotBot, an intelligent geyser controller, that trains the geyser to use less energy and to favour solar over the grid. “The relationship between the stage of load shedding and the popularity of solar is quite dramatic,” they point out. CEO Jon Kornik says that while falling solar panel and battery costs have helped, effective use of solar systems is key. “You could have 50 panels, but if the energy has nowhere to go, it won’t be productive,” he explained.