Investec plans to offer its private banking clients financing to install solar panels and battery storage systems in homes, bolstering its own green credentials and providing a power solution in a country regularly hit by blackouts of electricity. (Getty Pictures)
Investec plans to offer its private banking clients financing to install solar panels and battery storage systems in homes, bolstering its own green credentials and providing a power solution in a country regularly hit by blackouts of electricity.
The offering, which follows a pilot program for 1,000 customers in South Africa, will allow customers to tap unused home loan facilities or advance cash to set up the systems which can cost around $10,000 (around R155,000), or much more depending on the size of the property.
“We plan to give our customers access to multiple vendors and proprietary solutions,” the Johannesburg-based lender said in response to questions. “We can help customers with a range of needs” for individuals and businesses, he said.
Although Investec says the program is in line with its strategy of committing to “net direct zero carbon emissions”, it may also appeal to people in a country that has faced power outages for more than a decade and an increase in rates as an electric utility. struggling to meet demand. State-owned Eskom is seeking permission to raise the cost of its electricity, produced mainly from coal, by 20.5% this year.
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