Net Positive Labs supported the early development of a venture concept aimed at helping households and businesses in South Africa better understand and manage their electricity consumption amid persistent grid instability. Working with a multidisciplinary team combining expertise in energy systems, data analytics, and battery storage, the initiative explored digital tools capable of monitoring energy usage, identifying efficiency opportunities, and enabling more accurate sizing of solar and storage systems.
By improving visibility into energy consumption patterns, the concept seeks to accelerate distributed solar adoption, reduce reliance on diesel generators, and strengthen the resilience of decentralised energy systems in markets facing chronic power shortages.
South Africa faces one of the most severe electricity crises in the world. Persistent load-shedding has become a structural part of daily life for households and businesses, disrupting economic activity and increasing reliance on costly backup power.
Estimates suggest the country’s economy could be 8–10% larger in the absence of the ongoing energy crisis, while more than one million jobs have already been affected by power instability. To cope with frequent outages, many businesses rely on diesel generators, increasing operating costs and environmental impacts.
At the same time, the country has strong potential for distributed renewable energy, particularly solar. However, adoption is often slowed by uncertainty around actual electricity usage, system sizing, and financing options.
Net Positive Labs worked with a multidisciplinary team to explore how digital energy analytics could help households and businesses gain clearer insights into their electricity consumption.
The concept focused on monitoring real-time usage patterns, identifying inefficiencies, and enabling more accurate sizing of solar and battery systems. By matching distributed energy systems to actual demand, households and businesses can reduce costs while improving resilience during outages.
The initiative also explored how energy insights could be linked with financing solutions that make solar installations more accessible.
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