Johannesburg sits 1,753 metres above sea level and gets roughly 5.4 to 5.7 peak sun hours a day. That is a lot of free energy landing on a lot of roofs. Add City Power tariffs that have climbed more than 15% year on year, the lingering memory of load shedding, and a municipal net metering programme that lets households feed surplus power back to the grid, and you can see why so many people in the city are going solar.
The sunshine isn't the hard part. The installers are. Hundreds have flooded into Gauteng, and the gap between good and bad is wide. A good one sizes the system to your roof and your actual usage, fits tier one panels and reputable inverters, handles the City Power application and the certificate of compliance (COC), and is still answering the phone five years later. A bad one skimps on mounting rails and wiring, leaves you without a valid COC, and vanishes.
Our shortlist below is editorial analysis based on track record, business model, equipment, pricing transparency and after sales support. It isn't a ranking from hands on testing. Treat it as a starting point for your own quotes.
The ten at a glance
| Company | Who it suits | Founded | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solareff | Large commercial and industrial sites | 2010 | More than 191MWp installed |
| SolarAfrica | Businesses wanting rent to own | 2011 | Over 60MW financed and delivered |
| Hohm Energy | First time buyers who want to compare | 2022 | Online marketplace and finance |
| GoSolr | Homeowners avoiding upfront cost | 2021 | Large residential subscription service |
| Rubicon | Equipment sourcing | 2007 | Distribution and installer support |
| Wetility | Commercial buildings, no capital outlay | 2019 | Solar as a service with monitoring |
| AWPower | Budget conscious homes | 2016 | Right sized, clearly priced packages |
| Sunlar | Panels plus solar geysers | 2015 | Local manufacturing and warranties |
| Dorman Energy Group | Integrated backup for businesses | 2014 | Solar, storage and UPS in one design |
| Bright Tec Solutions | Small residential jobs | 2014 | Personal, local service |
Solareff: engineering first, panels second
Roodepoort based Solareff has installed more than 191 megawatt peak across South Africa, which puts it among the country's biggest specialist installers. Its focus is medium to large commercial, industrial and agricultural work, and every project goes through proper in house engineering design before anything is bolted down. It runs the whole job, from procurement to maintenance. STANLIB acquired it in 2023, and with around 130 staff it has the depth to run several big builds at once. If your business is looking above 100kWp, start here.
SolarAfrica: solar without touching your capital
Founded by James Irons and based in Centurion, SolarAfrica has financed and delivered over 60 megawatts of projects. The appeal is the rent to own model: it finances, installs and maintains the system, and the client pays a fixed monthly fee that is typically below the existing power bill. Office parks, retail centres and warehouses with big roofs are the natural fit. It also vets the local installers it works with, an extra check independent operators don't always offer.
Hohm Energy: a sensible first stop
Hohm isn't a traditional installer. It's an online platform that generates a proposal from your location and usage, then matches you with vetted installers, suppliers and finance. If you're new to solar and don't know what a sensible quote looks like, that structure is genuinely useful. Embedded finance means you can spread the cost monthly instead of paying a lump sum.
GoSolr: the subscription route
Backed by African Rainbow Capital, GoSolr installs panels, an inverter and a battery for a monthly fee, quoted from around R1,399 when this list was first compiled, so check current pricing. GoSolr owns and maintains the kit. It has caught on in Sandton, Fourways and Bryanston, where people want protection from outages without spending R100,000 or more upfront. The trade off is simple: you never own the system.
Rubicon: the name behind the equipment
Rubicon mostly doesn't install. It distributes panels, inverters, batteries and EV chargers, and hundreds of accredited Gauteng installers use its portal. When your installer mentions Canadian Solar, Trina, Deye or BYD, there's a fair chance the stock came through Rubicon. Its technical training also lifts standards across the trade. Businesses running their own larger projects can source directly.
Wetility: pay for power, not hardware
Wetility funds, installs, owns and runs solar and battery systems on commercial roofs, then sells the electricity to the building owner below the municipal tariff. Its edge is the monitoring software, which tracks generation, consumption and grid use in real time. For offices, retail and light industrial sites with uneven demand, that visibility matters.
AWPower: honest sizing
Not every house needs 15kW and a wall of batteries. AWPower's strength is matching the system to real usage, with clear pricing and no hidden extras. For a three bedroom home in Randburg, Roodepoort or Midrand, a well designed 5kW setup with a modest battery can cut the bill by 60% or more. Refusing to upsell shouldn't be rare. In this market, it is.
Sunlar: local warranties you can actually claim
Sunlar manufactures and installs, so warranty claims stay on South African soil rather than with a distant supplier. It covers grid tie, hybrid and off grid systems, plus solar geysers, which can reduce a home's electricity use by 30% to 40% on their own. Bundling a geyser with panels is one of the smartest moves a Joburg household can make.
Dorman Energy Group: for sites that can't go dark
Dorman combines solar, battery storage, inverters and UPS systems into one integrated design. Businesses still leaning on expensive diesel generators are the obvious customers. It isn't the cheapest option, but where uninterrupted power is the whole point, paying for proper integration makes sense.
Bright Tec Solutions: small jobs done properly
Based in Yeoville and working across Johannesburg and Pretoria since 2014, Bright Tec began in electrical and security work before moving into solar. Reviews keep praising its responsiveness and clear explanations. For a straightforward solar and battery backup install without corporate layers, it's a dependable local pick.
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Three questions worth asking
Is solar really worth it in Johannesburg?
For most homes, yes. Strong sun, rising City Power tariffs and net metering all work in your favour. The return depends on sizing the system to how you actually use power.
What paperwork should my installer handle?
The City Power application and a valid certificate of compliance. If an installer is vague about either, keep looking.
Should I buy or subscribe?
Buying costs more upfront but you own the asset. Subscription and rent to own models, like GoSolr, SolarAfrica or Wetility, remove the upfront bill in exchange for ongoing fees.
