Loadshedding and grid outage backup (as a finance sizing input)
Solar finance glossary · South Africa
Quick definition
Loadshedding and grid outage backup, as a finance sizing input, is the assumption about how many hours of grid outage per day a solar-and-battery system must carry the site through, which determines the battery capacity and inverter rating and therefore the capital cost that has to be financed.
It matters because the economics of backup and the economics of solar are different. Solar panels are sized to offset consumption and are justified by the energy they displace; batteries sized for outages are justified by avoided downtime, spoiled stock or diesel cost, which do not show up as a lower electricity bill. A system sized for stage 6 costs far more than one sized for self-consumption alone, and the instalment rises accordingly.
South African practice since 2023 has been to model backup explicitly: the customer states the critical load and the outage hours to cover, and the proposal shows the cost of that resilience separately from the solar saving. With loadshedding largely suspended since 2024, many businesses have reduced the backup assumption and shifted battery use toward peak shaving.
ArkFlow is a software platform that facilitates capturing outage assumptions and showing their effect on system cost and repayment.
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Financing Batteries and Backup Power for Energy Security →Battery finance in South Africa funds batteries, inverters and backup power through Asset Finance, Rent-to-Own or PPA. Here is how installers offer it.
ArkFlow is a software platform that facilitates solar finance origination. It is not a bank, lender, credit provider, tax adviser or financial adviser. This definition is general information, not a credit offer or advice. Funders make their own credit decisions and tax treatment should be confirmed with a registered practitioner.