Agri solar
PV Electricity Cost — Agriculture
Installing a PV system can reduce your long-term electricity cost by 60% — with growing investment returns as electricity tariffs increase every year.
Key figures
The agricultural cost case.
- Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) over 25 years for grid-tie PV
- R 0.48/kWh
- Eskom 2020/21 Landrate tariff
- R 1.24/kWh
- Estimated savings over 25 years for a 100 kW system
- R 8 m
- Land required for a 1 MW PV plant generating 2.14 GWh/year
- 3 Ha
Breaking down the numbers
Long-term electricity cost comparison.
A 1 MW PV plant requires approximately 3 hectares and will generate 2.14 GWh of electricity per year. Even higher returns are achieved when electricity is used for own consumption on-site, with investment returns growing year on year as electricity tariffs increase.
Cost per kWh: The Eskom 2020/21 Landrate tariff is R 1.24 /kWh versus a PV tariff of R 0.80 /kWh (including interest on capital).
Tariff escalation: The Eskom tariff increases at approximately 8% per annum, while the PV tariff increases at only 1% per annum (on capital). This widening gap is what drives the long-term savings case for agricultural PV.
Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE): Over a 25-year period, grid-tie PV delivers electricity at R 0.48 /kWh versus an Eskom tariff of R 1.24 /kWh. For a 100 kW PV system, estimated savings over 25 years amount to R 8.0 million.
Find out what your farm could save.
Request a free consultation and we will model your energy costs and savings potential based on your operation.