The Sales Pitch You’ve Heard Before

“We’ll slash your Eskom bill by 80%.”
“Payback in just 3 years.”
“Never worry about power again.”

If you’ve spoken to three different solar providers, you’ve probably heard three wildly different ROI numbers. They all sound too good to be true… because most of them are.

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The Dirty Secret About ROI

Here’s the thing: Solar ROI is not a universal truth.
It depends on:

• Your load profile (when you use power)
• Your tariff structure (time-of-use pricing, demand charges, municipal markups)
• Your capex vs financing model
• Your maintenance & replacement cycles (batteries don’t last forever)

Most “solar ROI” pitches ignore at least half of these.

So that magical 3-year payback? It’s built on assumptions that don’t match your business reality.

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Where ROI Gets Twisted

1. Overestimated savings
   Providers assume you’ll use 100% of your solar generation. Spoiler: you won’t.
   Some will be wasted unless you have batteries or export options.
2. Ignoring Eskom’s tariff creep
   Future price hikes are factored in as if they’re guaranteed “savings.” But hikes vary by region, by tariff, and by political winds.
3. Battery blindness
   A 10-year ROI model that doesn’t account for replacing your batteries after 6 years is a lie. Full stop.
4. Maintenance invisibility
   Inverters fail. Panels degrade. Replacements cost money. Most ROI calculators quietly exclude this.
5. Not factoring growth
   If your business scales, your shiny “perfectly sized” system may suddenly be undersized and the ROI shifts overnight.

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The CFO Test

Whenever a CFO looks at a solar proposal, they ask one question:
“Show me the assumptions.”

If the proposal can’t hold up under that scrutiny, it’s sales fluff.
And yet most companies buy anyway, then spend years explaining to their board why the “3-year ROI” hasn’t materialised.

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What Real ROI Looks Like

A credible ROI model must include:
✅ Your actual load profile data (not generic “business” averages)
✅ Conservative tariff escalation assumptions
✅ Battery replacement and maintenance costs
✅ Scenarios for growth and expansion
✅ Clear financing assumptions (cash, lease, or PPA)

When those pieces are in place, the ROI will be longer than the glossy brochure promised… but it will be real.

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The most expensive mistake you can make in solar isn’t buying the wrong hardware.
It’s believing the wrong ROI.

If you’re about to spend millions on an energy project, don’t trust the brochure math.

Start with an independent ROI review.
It’s cheaper than a mistake, and it gives you something no sales pitch ever will: clarity.

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Complete my free Solar Quote Checklist to see if your proposal passes the CFO test.