00:00This is common in South Africa, but this could be a game-changer.
00:04Solar power for the quarter of South Africans living in underserved townships like Nomlindelo Ndaba,
00:10who runs a restaurant in Soweto, Johannesburg.
00:13I don't really know how to explain it.
00:17It's lifted so much, you know, so it used to be dark.
00:21You know this place, it's a place, it's a kitchen.
00:24We need enough lighting.
00:25You cannot be preferring food and then where there's not enough lighting.
00:28For over a decade, planned blackouts have been part of daily life in South Africa.
00:34The country's power utility, ESCOM, is bogged down by aging infrastructure, poor planning and corruption.
00:40The power cuts have cost the South African economy as much as the 2008 financial crisis did,
00:46according to some estimates.
00:47But the burden isn't carried equally.
00:50Those who can afford to have started escaping blackouts by installing heavy solar systems
00:54that cost several thousand euros up front and need strong roofs for support.
00:59For the majority of South Africans, that's been out of reach.
01:03But it could slowly be changing.
01:05See how many fridge I've got there?
01:06It's about four, five, six.
01:09At the present, that's how I own solar.
01:12You see?
01:13And I'm saving a lot of electricity with those.
01:16Nomlindelo rents solar panels from Retility,
01:19a South African startup that developed a pay-as-you-go solar system.
01:22That means small businesses and low-income South Africans can get solar power without high up front costs.
01:29The panels themselves are also a bit different, lighter than regular ones,
01:33meaning they can be supported by the tin roofs that are common in townships.
01:37It's very important for us to make sure that we are servicing everyone.
01:41So you have to say, okay, I'm not going to put 200 kilograms of panels on a roof
01:46that's built by someone who's a sole proprietor.
01:49And so we said, okay, we have to bring in flexible panels.
01:53Flexible panels also helped David run his shop in a different part of Soweto.
01:57The constant blackouts not only kept his fridges off,
02:00but were also a security issue for him.
02:02At wintertime, that's the problem, because winter is a bit darker.
02:07So you can't see people when you open at six, seven.
02:12Since using pay-as-you-go solar, his store stands out in the neighborhood.
02:16So far, Retility is only serving a few thousand customers in townships,
02:20but David is trying to spread the word.
02:22They are curious, coming to ask, what's happening here?
02:27How do you like it?
02:27Because we don't have electricity.
02:30And then I just explained to them that we've got some kind of panel inside
02:34and solar and the batteries and so.
02:37So we are pushing this thing here.
02:39We're pushing this thing here.
02:40We're pushing this thing here.
02:40We're pushing this thing here.
02:41We're pushing this thing here.
02:41We're pushing this thing here.
02:42We're pushing this thing here.
02:43We're pushing this thing here.
02:44We're pushing this thing here.
02:45We're pushing this thing here.
02:46We're pushing this thing here.
02:47We're pushing this thing here.
02:48We're pushing this thing here.
02:49We're pushing this thing here.
02:50We're pushing this thing here.
02:51We're pushing this thing here.
02:52We're pushing this thing here.
02:53We're pushing this thing here.
02:54We're pushing this thing here.
02:55We're pushing this thing here.
02:56We're pushing this thing here.
02:57We're pushing this thing here.
02:58We're pushing this thing here.
02:59We're pushing this thing here.
03:00We're pushing this thing here.
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