What with the stressful and constant pandemic updates, it’s easy to forget that South Africa’s facing more than one problem. Remember Eskom? The state power utility is kinda hoping you’ve forgotten about it, even though it’s more than happy to attempt to ransack your pockets for even more money.

If Eskom’s planning on charging more, we should be thinking about using less. That’s where PowerOptimal’s new partnership with the South African division of Electrolux comes in. The new deal will see the Swedish company’s Kwikot Superline electric geysers being paired up with PowerOptimal’s Elon solar photovoltaic water heating tech.

What’s in a name?

Putting aside where the name for PowerOptimal’s tech comes from, the move is a good one for folks building new homes or hoping to lessen the strain Eskom’s trying to put on their wallets. Electrolux as a brand mostly brings to mind vacuum cleaners (and ad campaigns that would be… questionable today). Having them firmly tied to hot water seems like an overall better bet.

Electrolux South Africa’s Mark Moyce said, “By including the Elon into our range of water heating solutions, we are offering developers, builders and all users of geysers a means to take advantage of the abundant solar resource we have in this country at a fraction of the cost.”

PowerOptimal CEO Richard Fearon said, “Through this exclusive partnership, all PowerOptimal water heating solutions will be recommended and exclusively sold by Electrolux in South Africa. Together we are looking forward to leveraging the technical capabilities of both companies to bring sustainable energy to a larger market of people, previously inhibited by the sheer cost of solar PV technology.”