South African solar energy company Herholdt's reports its revenue has grown by 500% in the last 18 months, having been acquired by Mauritius-based private equity firm Adenia in 2021.

Herholdt's reports it has increased its distribution of solar products (inverters, batteries, and solar panels) to solar installers, distributors, wholesalers, and solar finance companies to more than 20% of the market share in the country.

It is a market that has grown significantly in the last few years due to South Africa's power crisis, which has seen daily scheduled power cuts across the country for up to 12 hours a day - a process called load shedding - as the struggling national grid is unable to cope with the energy demand.

In response to the crisis, businesses and individuals have looked to small-scale solar as either backup during load shedding or to move off the grid entirely.

Load shedding is set to affect South Africa for 250 days in 2023, with the South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB) estimating that the economic loss for the year will be $132.7 billion.

Over the last year, Herholdt's says it has distributed more than 250,000 solar panels, which have not only alleviated some of the costs to the national economy but also saved customers money, with its solar solutions estimated to cost 30% to 50% less than the national grid.

In addition, through distributing over 1TWh of renewable energy since 2018, Herholdt's reports it has avoided one million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions while also providing jobs, doubling its staff to 317 over the past 18 months.

"Winning this award is a great recognition of Herholdt's success, contributing to a greener, more sustainable energy landscape in South Africa," said Florent de Boissieu, partner at Adenia.

Adenia owns a majority stake in Herholdt's.