Western Cape-based consumers and businesses with solar installations have seen a substantial surge in their energy production in the past year, further reducing reliance on the national grid, as well as their energy costs.
According to Cala van der Westhuizen, Spokesperson for Energy Partners Home Solutions, solar production in the Western Cape exceeded expectations by as much as 10% during December 2016.
"Solar PV systems are typically designed using 20-year averages for irradiation (a measure of sunshine intensity), but individual years can often fluctuate by several percentage points from that average. Solar PV systems produce the most energy on clear, cloudless days and this December had 29 virtually cloud-free days over much of the province," Van der Westhuizen explains.
According to Van der Westhuizen, Energy Partners Home Solutions has over 40 solar home energy systems installed in and around Cape Town, all of which produced between 7% and 11% more energy than was expected for the month of December.
Taking into account that a well-designed home solar energy solution can cut a household's electricity bill by as much as 70% on average, it is clear that the increase in solar production equated to big savings.
The below graph indicates how much energy the Energy Partners Home Solutions systems were projected to produce on average and by how much they exceeded expectations.
