At the tick of the hour, the whole neighborhood turns dark. Residents scramble to turn on flashlights and candles. In supermarkets, shoppers stop in their tracks, patiently waiting for generators to get into gear, while businesses who cannot afford the backup batteries simply close their doors.
This scene has become habitual in South Africa, where rolling blackouts caused by an ailing electricity grid are a daily occurrence. For the past few weeks, however, Ajay Lalu’s lights have stayed on. In late-February, the 50-year-old entrepreneur “bit the bullet” and invested R100,000 ($5,000) in four solar panels and a lithium battery.
“Just having that ability to flip the switch and know the light will go on—it’s such a relief,” he says.
In his affluent neighborhood at the foot of Table Mountain, in Cape Town, solar panels now dot the rooftops. To escape the power cuts of up to 12 hours a day—locally known as “loadshedding”—an increasing number of South Africans like Lalu are opting for private electricity generation, driving an unprecedented solar boom.
This story was produced with support from Internews' Earth Journalism Network. It was first published in African Arguments on March 28, 2024. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Banner image: Solar panels dot the rooftops of several houses in Vredehoek, Cape Town, South Africa / Credit: Julie Bourdin.
Julie Bourdin
