Free-to-use solar score for South African homes

Issue 8 2022 Editor's Choice, Power Management

Escalating loadshedding has South African homeowners looking to solar power as a means to secure their home’s electricity supply. While many homeowners start by looking at cost and system sizes, Standard Bank recommends an alternative option, namely, to look at whether your property is feasible for solar power, as well as the electricity output you could expect from your specific conditions.

With this in mind, Standard Bank’s home efficiency platform LookSee.co.za has worked with Riskscape, a geospatial actuarial solutions provider, to develop a new, free-to-use, online Solar Score for South African homeowners which takes your individual property conditions into account in determining solar power feasibility. The LookSee Solar Score is one of the first of its kind to provide this level of insight into South Africa’s residential properties.

Standard Bank’s head of digital and eCommerce, Andrew van der Hoven explains: “South Africa offers excellent conditions for solar power, but this does not mean that the conditions of every property are excellent. For instance, your neighbour may be able to go completely off the grid, or, where the regulations allow, will be able to sell electricity back into the grid, while your house may only support a medium-sized solar system with lower production potential.”

There are a variety of factors which determine whether a solar installation is feasible for a particular home. The first factor is the cardinal direction of the various roof panes, as only the sides that are facing a northerly direction will get enough direct sunlight hours. This is followed by a calculation of the roof area to establish how many panels can be supported on the optimal panes or sides, as well as the slopes of these panes. Horizontal irradiance, which measures the radiant power from sunlight for your specific location in South Africa, and shady conditions from surrounding buildings or vegetation, also play a role in establishing how much electricity can be generated from a solar power system.

“We’ve established that one of the biggest challenges for homeowners looking at solar power is the difficulty in finding out whether solar power will work efficiently for their homes. System prices may be comparable, but the amount of power that will be generated from the same system varies from property to property. This is why LookSee has worked on developing a Solar Score that helps homeowners understand what they can reasonably expect from a solar investment in their property,” explains van der Hoven.

Simple but effective

The LookSee Solar Score is South Africa’s first, free-to-use, online solar scoring system that combines geospatial data, mathematical algorithms and a selection of technologies to generate a 3-dimensional grid of a house located in South African, including the height of surrounding buildings and vegetation.

Despite the complexity of the system’s supporting technology provided by specialist data partner, Riskscape, the LookSee Solar Score is remarkably easy-to-use and only requires that homeowners enter their full home address into the search field. The system then analyses the property against the various solar factors to calculate a feasibility and efficiency rating.

These ratings result in a Solar Score out of 100:

The Solar Score also provides insight into your usable roof area, the average number of sunny days in your area and the amount of electricity in kilowatt hours you could expect to generate over the space of a month and a year.

An annual electricity production calculator is also included, providing an estimation of the Rand value of the energy produced by a solar system installed on your home. The scale allows you to see how this energy production adds up as you move from 1 year all the way up to 25 years.

“It’s information like this that can help homeowners make educated decisions on a solar investment based on how much electricity can be generated from their roofs. This is far more useful than working off the maximum electricity a solar system can generate in perfect conditions,” says Van Der Hoven.

Find out your Solar Score at https://www.looksee.co.za/property/solarscore

Please note that the Solar Score is currently available for the large Metro’s in South Africa, excluding sectional title properties (Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town), sectional title and other cities and towns being added during 2023.


Credit(s)




Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page



Further reading:

From the Editor's desk: The good, the bad, and the victims
Technews Publishing News & Events
When the Internet first arrived, everyone was expecting amazing things from it, well, everyone who knew what it was and how it worked. We had the dotcom boom and bust, and it’s fair to say that if we ...

Read more...
Data resilience at VeeamON
Technews Publishing SMART Security Solutions Infrastructure Information Security
SMART Security Solutions attended the VeeamON Tour in Johannesburg in August to learn more about data resilience and Veeam’s initiatives to enhance data protection, both on-site and in the cloud.

Read more...
Identity, Security & Access Alliance focuses on intelligence and integration
SMART Security Solutions Ideco Biometrics BoomGate Systems Bosch Building Technologies Technews Publishing Integrated Solutions Surveillance Access Control & Identity Management
The Identity, Security & Access Alliance (ISAA) hosted several launch events in Johannesburg in August, showcasing the participating companies’ technical solutions with a primary focus on the solutions made possible by integrating high-quality systems to deliver comprehensive solutions.

Read more...
Get the AI fundamentals right
Technews Publishing SMART Security Solutions Leaderware Editor's Choice Surveillance AI & Data Analytics
Much of the marketing for CCTV AI detection implies the client can just drop the AI into their existing systems and operations, and they will be detecting all criminals and be far more efficient when doing it.

Read more...
SMART Surveillance Conference in Johannesburg
Arteco Global Africa Technews Publishing SMART Security Solutions Axis Communications SA neaMetrics Editor's Choice Surveillance Security Services & Risk Management Logistics (Industry) AI & Data Analytics
SMART Security Solutions hosted its annual SMART Surveillance Conference in Johannesburg in July, welcoming several guests, sponsors, and speakers for an informative and enjoyable day examining the evolution of the surveillance market.

Read more...
Directory of suppliers
Technews Publishing SMART Security Solutions Fire & Safety
The Directory of Product and Solution Suppliers for the fire safety industry includes details of companies that provide security and risk mitigation products, advice, and services within this market.

Read more...
Fire safety in commercial kitchens
Technews Publishing Kestrel Distribution Products & Solutions Fire & Safety Commercial (Industry)
Fire safety in commercial kitchens is becoming increasingly critical. Defender is Europe’s first EN 17446:2021-approved kitchen hood fire suppression system and offers the indispensable safety measures required.

Read more...
South African fire standards in a nutshell
Fire & Safety Editor's Choice Training & Education
The importance of compliant fire detection systems and proper fire protection cannot be overstated, especially for businesses. Statistics reveal that 44% of businesses fail to reopen after a fire.

Read more...
LidarVision for substation security
Fire & Safety Government and Parastatal (Industry) Editor's Choice
EG.D supplies electricity to 2,7 million people in the southern regions of the Czech Republic, on the borders of Austria and Germany. The company operates and maintains infrastructure, including power lines and high-voltage transformer substations.

Read more...
From the editor's desk: Regulations, standards and skills, but poor enforcement
Technews Publishing SMART Security Solutions Fire & Safety
South Africa depends on the carrot approach to fire safety; in other words, businesses choosing to do the right thing, as the stick (or enforcement of regulations) is unfortunately lacking.

Read more...










While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd. | All Rights Reserved.