Southern African renewable energy platform provider SolarSaver recently announced a transaction with international funders to support the expansion of its fully serviced, capital expenditure-free solar model for businesses across Southern Africa.

With over 750 business clients and 140 MW of installed capacity under management, the company says its approach prioritises operational cost certainty and aims to transfer performance risk away from clients to provide a simplified path to affordable clean energy. 
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​“For any business owner, the fundamental question is always: ‘Am I paying as little as possible to operate my business?’” said SolarSaver head of sales Lance Green. “When considering a move to solar energy, this question becomes complex, with various solar financing models presenting different risks and rewards. Many businesses are better served treating solar like a utility: pay for reliable, delivered energy, not for the headaches of asset ownership, replacements, and performance risk.”

Green asserts that, when it comes to solar, owning the asset is not always the smartest financial move. “Businesses don’t own their connection to the national grid; they simply pay a utility for the power it supplies. SolarSaver applies this same logic to solar energy. By offering a fully serviced funded model, we remove the significant upfront capital expenditure and the ongoing responsibilities of ownership.”
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​The company structure aligns its incentives directly with delivery: if the system doesn’t produce power, the customer doesn’t pay. “This transforms solar from a capital purchase into a predictable, low-cost operational expense," explains Green.​
 
​The model aims to provide businesses with a high level of cost certainty, offering a fixed-rate structure as protection against the escalating tariffs of traditional utilities.

"Even for complex offgrid operations, such as remote lodges, clients know exactly what their energy will cost for the duration of our term agreement, whether that is a 10- or 20-year term," says Green.

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SolarSaver's model is described as a comprehensive energy service where the client pays only for the power produced or a fixed monthly rental, with zero capital outlay. The company designs, funds, installs and manages the system for the duration of the agreement, usually a 20-year term. 

For a hybrid or off-grid system on a fixed rental, clients are not charged for any days the system is offline. In addition, the company provides full monitoring and support, to ensure operational continuity.