Hybrid Solar Solutions for Southern African Businesses
Solar, battery, and grid power working together to reduce energy costs and provide automatic backup when the grid fails.
A hybrid solar solution manages solar generation, battery storage and grid power together in one system, switching to battery automatically the moment the grid fails. Solar powers your site and charges the battery by day; the battery takes over at night or during an outage, with the grid as a final fallback.
We have 770kWp, 102kWp and 450kWp hybrid installations already running across Southern African agriculture, manufacturing and mining.
Why sites choose hybrid over grid-tied or off-grid:
Automatic switchover to battery backup for configured critical loads, without relying on manual generator start-up.
Existing diesel infrastructure is preserved, not replaced; solar and battery cut diesel runtime and fuel cost dramatically without stranding your genset investment.
Real-time dispatch shaves maximum demand charges as well as providing backup, so the system earns its keep even on the days the grid never fails.
Behind-the-meter battery storage is becoming increasingly relevant to South African commercial, industrial and agricultural businesses as organisations look to improve energy security, optimise tariffs and reduce energy costs.
How a Hybrid System Keeps Your Site Running
During the day, solar generation powers your site directly and charges the battery with any surplus. In the evening or during an outage, the system can automatically transition configured critical loads to battery backup when the grid fails.
Where a site runs a diesel generator, the hybrid inverter’s grid-forming characteristics let it hold a stable supply on its own. The generator can then switch off during good solar generation and only steps back in when it is needed.
Hybrid vs Grid-Tied vs Off-Grid Solar
A grid-tied-only system feeds power in and exports excess but has no battery and no backup capability. An off-grid system has no grid connection at all. Hybrid sits between the two: grid-connected for reliability and export, and battery-backed for genuine outage protection.
|
Criteria |
Grid-Tied Only |
Off-Grid |
Hybrid (Bigfisch) |
|
Grid connection |
Yes |
None |
Yes |
|
Battery storage |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Backup during an outage |
No, it shuts down when the grid fails |
Yes, always. |
Yes, automatic switchover |
|
Can export excess power |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Works alongside a diesel generator |
N/A |
Sometimes |
Yes solar/battery first, generator as final backup |
Getting the Hybrid System Sizing and Grid Connection Right
This is where using accredited professionals is paramount. Battery capacity is sized to your critical load, not your total consumption, and inverter capacity to your peak demand. Oversizing wastes money; undersizing leaves you exposed during the outage you bought the system to survive.
Bigfisch is a professional, accredited solar installer. Getting the sizing right the first time is what makes a hybrid system deliver both backup power and real running-cost savings, which is why every hybrid project starts with a proper sizing assessment rather than a generic quote.
Hybrid systems also need to be designed and connected in accordance with the applicable South African grid-interconnection requirements. NRS 097-2-1:2024 covers the interconnection of embedded generation and battery systems, including applicable requirements for hybrid inverter operation.
Proven Across Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Mining
Our solar-plus-diesel hybrid portfolio includes a 770kWp agricultural installation, a 102kWp manufacturing site with carport mounting, and a 450kWp mining operation. All pairing solar generation with existing diesel infrastructure rather than replacing it outright.
Shaving Maximum Demand Charges and Funding the System
When a commercial tariff includes maximum-demand charges, the highest power peaks can materially affect the electricity bill alongside overall energy consumption.
A hybrid system is well placed to deal with it because the battery and inverter are already managing dispatch in real time. They can be set to shave the highest peaks specifically, rather than only running for backup or general savings.
An energy audit pinpoints when those peaks happen so the system can be tuned to target them.
Ready to size a hybrid system for your site?
Book an Energy Audit
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between hybrid and grid-tied solar?
A grid-tied system has no battery and provides no backup during an outage, since safety rules require it to shut down when the grid fails. A hybrid system includes battery storage and switches over automatically, providing genuine backup power.
Can an existing grid-tied system be upgraded to hybrid?
Not directly to the same inverter. Adding a hybrid capability generally means installing a separate hybrid inverter and battery alongside the existing grid-tied system, rather than converting it in place.
How much backup runtime does a hybrid system typically provide?
This depends entirely on battery capacity versus your critical load, not a fixed figure. A load assessment gives the runtime for your specific site and battery size.
Can a hybrid system work alongside an existing diesel generator?
This is one of the most common setups in our own installed base in Southern Africa. The hybrid inverter runs solar and battery first and only calls on the generator once both are exhausted, so existing diesel infrastructure keeps its role as backup rather than being replaced.
Why does maximum demand matter for sizing my hybrid system?
Because the maximum demand charge is billed separately from consumption, sizing a system purely on total kWh usage can miss the bigger cost driver. An energy audit is the starting point for getting the sizing right.