New rooftop solar loan option for South Africa

Finance group WesBank has extended its loan offerings beyond vehicle and ‘leisure’ financing and has now added residential solar loans to its products.

The group said that, depending on affordability level and credit score, customers can qualify for WesBank solar finance of between R65,000 and R500,000.

“Solar power has become increasingly desirable in South Africa to mitigate the increasing cost of electricity, to embrace sustainable living, and of course to escape the inconvenience caused by prolonged planned and unplanned power outages,” the group said.

The financier has been offering solar loans to businesses for some time and is now making it available for individual private customers.

The application, approval and contracting are all done digitally. To qualify, applicants must be listed as the registered owner of the property where the solar power solution will be installed.

A minimum 10% deposit is required, and the loan term can be structured from 12 months to a maximum of 72 months.

Interest rates can be fixed or linked.

The group said that it does not dictate which supplier clients can use, but it recommends selecting a reputable provider with a proven track record and installing equipment from recognised brands.

The granting of the loan is subject to the chosen supplier meeting its minimum criteria and the provision of required certifications after the installation, it said.

Going solar

Power utility Eskom has managed to keep load shedding at bay for 130 consecutive days—with no outages since 26 March—and there are positive signs that this trend will continue.

However, the energy department and various energy experts have warned that this does not mean the country’s power issues are over, and the urgent need for alternative generation capacity is still there.

On top of a concerted turnaround at Eskom, another significant contributor to higher energy availability is much lower demand, driven primarily by alternative energy builds, especially solar.

It’s estimated that over 5.5GW of ‘behind the meter’ solar energy has been installed in South Africa, which analysts say has led to a 1.5-2.0GW “permanent reduction” in demand.

The rise of solar has led to a host of financing options for the systems, with the country’s big banks offering their own products as well as the government’s Energy Bounce-Back Loan Guarantee Scheme.

The scheme was announced by National Treasury in 2023, administered by the South African Reserve Bank.

The aim of the scheme is to help customers mitigate the impact of power supply challenges and load shedding by giving them easy access to financing at a lower interest rate.

For private households, the scheme is typically limited to new or upgraded solar installations valued between R3,000 and R300,000.

The banks’ own products tend to be more custom-built for various types of customers.

Read: Billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s big solar plans for South Africa