Makro to start selling ‘power walls’ and full solar installations in South Africa as load shedding demand grows

Massmart-owned retailer Makro says it will start offering power walls and full solar installations as it sees increasing demand for load shedding supplies.

Gary Lindhorst, Makro’s DIY merchandise manager, said the retailer has reported ‘exceptionally strong sales growths’ for load shedding related products, such as generators, inverters, gas cooking tops, cylinders, rechargeable globes and lanterns.

“We are currently experiencing a very high demand for generators, inverters and backup power solutions nationwide in our stores. Year-on-year sales for alternate power-related categories have gone up by over 300%,” he said.

He said the power wall will be available in-store at Makro from the end of August 2022.

“This is going to be a popular solution for our customers because it can be fitted next to your DB board and connected by a qualified electrician within 90 minutes.”

Lindhorst said the power wall will be available in 5kw and 10kw units.

“Units are an integrated power system comprising of the latest inverter technology and the latest lithium phosphate battery technology with a management system to guarantee the user extended battery life,” he said.

The power wall gets charged through the electricity grid and when load shedding kicks in, power continues seamlessly eliminating the impacts of load shedding.

“This alternative power solution gives customers the option of investing now as a step towards becoming less reliant on the grid, and at today’s prices. They can keep their lights on well into the future and save later by adding the panels to generate their own power,” Lindhorst said.

He added that the power wall is a 100% solar-ready solution that includes all of the accessories required to connect the system to solar panels.

“Another big plus is that the batteries are good enough to perform optimally for 6,000 full recharge cycles and can recharge to full within 2 hours, so that takes care of stage 6 load shedding schedule.”

Makro said it will also be offering fully installed solar solutions to ‘customers very soon’.

Read: Cape Town’s 10-point plan to end load shedding and move off Eskom’s grid