Solar is the new black

It’s a sad situation. Years ago, when you saw a group of men gathered excitedly around a shared cell phone, the likelihood was they were up to no good. Today, there’s a great chance that they are comparing electricity consumption and production based on the information from their solar app.

Whereas in the past, if men were to compare the size of their storage, the options were vast, today it’s the size of their inverter that gets them most excited.

The debate about preferred back-up power will continue to consume us. With the African National Congress’s Eskom becoming more unstable and less reliable, South Africans have accepted that their power is in their own hands (see what I did there).

The problem is that solar owners are like vegans. No sooner have you met them, they will let you know that they have moved over, when they did, how they did it, and what percentage off the grid they are. This varies from user to user, with one vegan telling me that they are 167% independent of Eskom – and that’s on a rainy day. At night. With one panel tied behind their back.

Solar, it seems, is the new black. Which makes generators very last season.

Whereas generators are far from quiet, generator owners are. They seldom brag about the fact that they are producing enough kilowatts in their driveway to power a small city or that they don’t need to keep checking the sky for clouds when their inverter is only at 60%. They simply get on with it, continue to buy diesel (because Eskom can’t) and relentlessly annoy the neighbours.

I saw a complaint on a street WhatsApp group recently. Apparently, the writer was concerned about the sound of the motors running and the smell of diesel in the air. The group responded with love and patience, commiserated with her, but continued to feed the beasts.

I happen to enjoy the sound of things working. Solar, to some extent, is unnaturally silent (like electric cars). For me, the smell of burning diesel, the magnificence of the motor turning over, fills me with joy.

The difference between solar and generator is that little etiquette is demanded from panel producers. Whereas solar users might be annoying personality-wise, generator owners let their equipment do the talking. Which has resulted in more than one neighbourly dispute. And is likely to result in many more.

Some years ago, when we installed a generator in a home we no longer live in, I sent our neighbours flowers and a note saying, “Please don’t hate us, hate Eskom.” Next week, when the new generator is installed, there’s little chance that anyone will even notice given the noise from their own backyard.

The power crisis is unacceptable. It’s infuriating because it is solvable. The government needs to remove all red tape, open the production of electricity to independent producers, and allow solar generation to be sold back into the grid. As is already the case in Cape Town.

In the interim, it’s important that we remember that load shedding isn’t our neighbour’s fault. That solar users are people too. And that deep down, all we’re looking for is a little bit of light.