As per energy policy advisor Anton Eberhard, citing an estimate provided by state-owned monopoly Eskom, South Africa’s rooftop solar capacity has grown by 3.5 GW in 15 months. This makes South Africa one of the world’s biggest rooftop solar markets, 90% of the size as Australia (3.8 GW) and Poland (3.7 GW) in the same period. Arguably, considering the relatively narrow socioeconomic band of below perhaps 10 million people in the country that could invest in such installations, it’s easily been the most intensive rooftop market in the world in this period. The reason is simple – constant blackouts since October 2022, which have worsened this year, with up to 10 hours lost per day. Even many wealthy neighbourhoods outfitted…