Battery storage & intelligent switching keep operations running through any stage of load shedding, without interruption.
We assess your actual energy usage before specifying a system. Every installation is sized and configured specific to your site.
From site survey to commissioning, Oxbow manages every stage of your solar project with accountability at every step.
Over two decades of energy solutions expertise. Helping homes and businesses reduce grid reliance and stay powered.
Load shedding has fundamentally changed the cost and complexity of running a business in South Africa. Unreliable grid power disrupts operations, damages equipment, and creates costs that compound quietly over time. Oxbow’s commercial solar solutions address this directly, providing affordable, renewable energy that gives back your energy independence and control.
We assess your energy profile, design a system around your actual consumption, and install infrastructure built to deliver consistent, measurable performance. From solar panels and inverter systems to battery storage and backup generators, every component is specified for your environment rather than drawn from a generic template. Our team handles the full process: site assessment, system design, installation, and ongoing support.
Transition to clean power with high-efficiency Tier 1 solar panels. Our PV solutions maximise energy harvest to reduce grid reliance and lower long-term operational costs. Engineered for the South African climate, they provide a high-yield energy environment that supports your sustainability goals.
Oxbow supplies reliable diesel generators for businesses nationwide. Our commercial generators deliver dependable backup power during load shedding and outages, with the right kVA sizing to keep operations running. A robust, fuel-efficient power solution built for South African demands.
Oxbow supplies portable batteries and power stations for homes and businesses across the country. Our units deliver silent, emission-free backup on the go. A clean, rechargeable, and portable alternative to fuel generators for reliable everyday use.
Oxbow supplies hybrid inverters and lithium battery storage for homes and businesses across South Africa. Our inverter and battery combos deliver seamless backup power during load shedding, store energy for later, and cut grid reliance. Scalable kVA and kWh solutions built for South African needs.
Commercial solar systems are generally categorised as small (20 to 50 kW), medium (50 to 150 kW), or large (150 kW and above), but these ranges are a starting point, not a recommendation. The right size depends on your actual consumption profile, how much of your load runs during daylight hours, and your budget structure. Oxbow conducts a thorough energy assessment drawing on your electricity billing history and site load profile, and uses that data to recommend a system sized to deliver the best financial return for your specific operation rather than the largest possible installation.
A backup system is an inverter and battery. It keeps selected circuits running when the grid goes down and recharges from the grid once supply returns. It solves continuity, not cost, and it has a practical limit: if outages are long or fall close together, there may not be enough grid time in between to recharge.
A full installation adds panels. The system then generates during daylight, which means it recharges without the grid and offsets what you would otherwise draw from the utility, so it reduces the bill as well as covering the outage.
The deciding question is which problem you are actually solving. If the concern is staying operational through an outage, backup may be sufficient. If your electricity cost is the larger issue, or if a meaningful share of your load runs during daylight hours, panels change the financial picture. Oxbow establishes that from your consumption profile before recommending either.
For commercial installations in South Africa, payback periods typically fall between four and seven years, depending on your current electricity spend, system size, and how much of your solar generation you consume directly during operating hours. As Eskom tariffs continue to increase annually, the savings generated by your system grow over time, meaning what begins as a reduction in your electricity bill becomes an increasingly significant financial advantage as the years progress. Oxbow provides detailed financial modelling based on your actual consumption data before any commitment is made, so your ROI projection reflects your business rather than an industry average.
Full upfront purchase is one option, but financed acquisitions are widely available through major South African banks. As Eskom tariffs increase year on year, the cost of your finance repayment remains fixed. In turn, this makes electricity savings grow, which means the investment becomes progressively more favourable over the repayment period. Rental and lease structures are also available for businesses that prefer to convert the capital expenditure into a predictable operational cost. Oxbow helps clients identify the financing structure that suits their cash flow and can connect you with appropriate funding partners as part of the process.
The financial case for commercial solar rests primarily on electricity cost reduction, not backup power. A well-designed system reduces your direct grid consumption during operating hours, meaning lower monthly bills regardless of whether there has been a single outage. Solar-generated power is also cleaner and more stable in voltage than municipal supply, which reduces wear on sensitive equipment over time. Additionally, Solar Power is clean energy meaning you are actively reducing your carbon footprint via participating, contributing to a healthier tomorrow. Oxbow designs systems to maximise your self-consumption rate during operating hours, ensuring the investment performs on cost grounds whether the grid is reliable or not.
City of Cape Town’s Small-Scale Embedded Generation programme allows grid-tied businesses to feed surplus power back into the municipal network and receive credits against their electricity account. Oxbow manages the City’s SSEG authorisation process on your behalf and will recommend you engage your tax adviser on the Section 12B deduction before committing to a system.
The City of Cape Town Municipal Government does require any and all small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) systems with a generation capacity smaller than 1 mega-volt ampere (MVA) and embedded generation (EG) systems with a generation capacity of more than 1MVA and less than 100MVA in properties to be properly registered via their online platform.
With Oxbow this admin is taken care of on your behalf, ensuring a responsible and accountable party handles the legalities thoroughly to protect you.
Installing a solar system will first require an on-site assessment. From this date, installing and integrating the solar system is very straightforward, on average being usable within 3 days of the on-site assessment for residential cases. In commercial cases, this time varies dependent on site size and accessibility.
Less than most people expect, but not nothing. Panels have no moving parts and need no servicing beyond cleaning. Everything else falls into three routines.
Cleaning is environment-driven rather than calendar-driven. In the Cape Town metro, coastal salt, summer wind-borne dust and bird activity all build a soiling layer that costs you yield, and commercial sites typically need attention on a quarterly to six-monthly basis, more often near industrial areas or under flight paths for birds.
Monitoring runs continuously through the inverter platform and should be reviewed formally each quarter, comparing output against the same period the previous year. An unexplained drop is the earliest signal that something is wrong.
An annual electrical inspection covers the rest: mounting and fixing integrity, cable and connector condition, DC isolators, earthing, inverter diagnostics including cooling fans, which seize with dust and cause thermal shutdowns, and battery state of health.
For any and all service and support related queries, please direct your attention to the Oxbow Nerve Centre available on 021 835 1400 / service@oxbowsa.co.za.
All our products come protected by supplier verified warranties. The length and coverage of these warranties varies from product to product. Please speak to your sales consultant for more details about your specific product.
