Installers by province
Solar by province: what the same system produces where you live
South Africa is often sold as uniformly sunny. It is not. The same 5 kW array generates roughly 22% more electricity in Northern Cape than in KwaZulu-Natal, and the winter gap is wider still. Pick your province to see local installers, tariffs and payback.
Every province compared on sun, winter and installer coverage
Two provinces can have similar annual figures and behave completely differently through winter, which is when household consumption peaks and when a badly sized system disappoints its owner. The winter column below is the one worth reading twice.
| Province | Annual sun | June sun | Winter retention | 5 kW, winter day | 5 kW, per year | Installers listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Cape | 6.1 | 4.7 | 64% | 18.3 kWh | 8 683 kWh | 19 |
| North West | 5.8 | 4.7 | 71% | 18.3 kWh | 8 256 kWh | 34 |
| Limpopo | 5.7 | 4.8 | 75% | 18.7 kWh | 8 114 kWh | 34 |
| Free State | 5.7 | 4.4 | 63% | 17.2 kWh | 8 114 kWh | 19 |
| Gauteng | 5.5 | 4.4 | 69% | 17.2 kWh | 7 829 kWh | 12 |
| Mpumalanga | 5.3 | 4.4 | 72% | 17.2 kWh | 7 545 kWh | 35 |
| Western Cape | 5.2 | 3.1 | 42% | 12.1 kWh | 7 402 kWh | 93 |
| Eastern Cape | 5.2 | 3.7 | 57% | 14.4 kWh | 7 402 kWh | 47 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 5.0 | 3.8 | 62% | 14.8 kWh | 7 118 kWh | 74 |
Sun figures are annual and June averages of daily global horizontal irradiance in kWh/m²/day, at provincial resolution. Generation applies a 0.78 performance ratio to allow for inverter and cable losses, temperature derating, soiling and imperfect orientation. Winter retention is the June daily average as a share of the December average. Installer counts are the businesses currently listed in this directory, not the total number trading in the province.
How to read this if you are buying
Winter retention beats annual sun
A province with a strong annual figure and poor winter retention, which describes the Western Cape, needs a larger array than the annual number suggests, because the shortfall lands in the months you use the most electricity. A province with a flatter curve, like Limpopo, can be sized close to its average and still behave as promised in July.
Installer count is a support signal
Provinces with few listed installers are not necessarily badly served, but they are usually served from a neighbouring metro. That matters for callouts and warranty work: a two-hour drive changes the economics of a service visit and, in practice, changes how quickly you get one.
Your tariff is provincial only by accident
Electricity rates are set by whoever bills you, which is a municipality in the metros and Eskom in much of the rest of the country. Two houses in the same province can pay very different rates per unit, so payback is a town-level question rather than a provincial one. Open your province, then your town.
Choose your province
Western Cape
93 installer listings · 5.2 kWh/m²/day
KwaZulu-Natal
74 installer listings · 5.0 kWh/m²/day
Eastern Cape
47 installer listings · 5.2 kWh/m²/day
Mpumalanga
35 installer listings · 5.3 kWh/m²/day
Limpopo
34 installer listings · 5.7 kWh/m²/day
North West
34 installer listings · 5.8 kWh/m²/day
Free State
19 installer listings · 5.7 kWh/m²/day
Northern Cape
19 installer listings · 6.1 kWh/m²/day
Gauteng
12 installer listings · 5.5 kWh/m²/day