Rising electricity prices and the threat of load-shedding makes going off the power grid look attractive.
"The big problem with solar power in South Africa is that consumers associate it with geysers on roofs of RDP houses," said Tommy Davies, founder of solar power provider Gliimo.
Davies and business partner Morné Steyn (yes, the Springbok flyhalf) say their company can get your household to run on sun from R85500.
At night the system runs on batteries that have spent the day storing excess electricity.
"Electricity prices are only going up. And solar power technology will only get better and more affordable," said Davies.
The prices of solar panels have dropped by 57% over the past year, according to Davies.
Eskom has resorted to loadshedding three times this year as electricity supply struggles to meet demand.
Delays in the construction of Medupi power station have worsened the power crunch and Eskom has applied for an 8% a year price increase until 2018.
But the consumer market can be slow to embrace technology.
"We South Africans are often a bit scared to take a chance on something new," said Steyn, who has a 25% stake in Gliimo.
Davies said South Africa lags behind Australia in solar power.
"In Queensland 350000 households have similar systems; in the whole of Australia more than 1.2 million."
Gliimo clients don't have to go off the grid completely, and can just use sun to save on costs.
