South Africa · Prices checked 26 Oct 2026

Solar payback, worked out in rand. No sales pitch attached.

A 5 kW system with a 5 kWh battery runs about R130,000 to R195,000 installed. Against a R2,500 monthly bill it saves roughly R1,837 a month and pays for itself in 5.1 to 7.0 years. Your bill will give a different answer. The calculator takes 30 seconds.

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What payback actually looks like

Cumulative net benefit for the case above. The line crosses zero slowly, then the tariff rises do the heavy lifting. Drag your own numbers through it on the calculator page.

Low installed price (R130,000)High installed price (R195,000)Break-even zone

Installed prices, October 2026

Public installer quotes and published kit pricing, cross-checked on 2026-10-26. Battery excluded. Full table and sources on the prices page.

3 kW

R55k to R85k

5 kW

R90k to R140k

8 kW

R130k to R195k

10 kW

R160k to R240k

Scale: R0 to R240,000. A battery adds R40,000 to R80,000 depending on size.

R2.80 to R3.90Residential tariff per kWh in the model. Your municipality sets your real rate, so the calculator lets you type yours in.

5.0 hrsPeak sun hours a day, the planning default. Coastal winter runs lower.

+12.74%NERSA-approved rise for Eskom direct customers from 1 April 2025. Municipal bulk went up 11.32% from 1 July 2025.

How the estimate is built

Your bill sets the ceiling

Solar can only replace units you actually buy. A R2,500 bill at R3.35 per kWh is about 746 kWh a month, and that caps the saving before any panel maths starts.

Generation, minus what you waste

A 5 kW system makes about 645 kWh a month here. Without a battery you use roughly 65% of it yourself. With one, about 85%. The rest earns little or nothing.

One installer quoted a Joburg family R212,000 for a 5 kW system by counting exported power at the full retail rate. Export credits, where they exist at all, pay a fraction of that. Check any quote that shows a big export income line.

Before you sign a quote

Installed total itemised, with the Certificate of Compliance and SSEG registration as separate lines.
Battery size in usable kWh, in writing.
On a lease: the yearly escalation and the end-of-term buy-out figure, also in writing.
A second quote. Same system size, so the two can actually be compared.

Questions people actually ask

Is this a quote?

No. SolRand gives planning ranges from public installer pricing and published tariffs, checked 2026-10-26. Only a site visit produces a quote.

Does solar still pay if load shedding stays low?

Yes, if your daytime use is high enough. The saving is the units you stop buying. Low daytime use weakens the case more than low load shedding does.

Do I need a battery for payback?

No. A battery raises the share of solar you use yourself, from about 65% to about 85% in this model, and it adds R40,000 to R80,000. Run both versions in the calculator.