Unit economics · Modelled estimate

What a kilowatt-hour costs a business in Botswana

Botswana has a working grid that still fails often enough for most businesses to keep a generator. Both comparisons matter: against the tariff solar brings a consumed kilowatt-hour to 0.054, and against the generator to 0.190.

Against the grid tariff

when the grid is up

Grid only 0.123

Solar, no battery 0.065

Solar + battery 0.054

The panels themselves 0.012

Solar only: 4.3 years
Solar + day-night battery: 6.4 years

Against the generator

during outages

Diesel generator 0.350

Solar + three-day battery 0.190

The panels themselves 0.012

0.160 USD per kWh cheaper than running the generator, a 46% lower cost per consumed kilowatt-hour.

Grid reliability: Moderate
Population with grid access: 76.0%
Installation labour cost: 0.18 × Belgium
Solar yield: 1,900 kWh/kWp

Net saving over 25 years

2,314USD per kWp

Solar only, after deducting the installation. A 500 kWp roof: about 1,157,000 USD over the lifetime.

Households, for reference

Grid: 0.094
Solar + battery: 0.078
Payback, solar only: 8.9 years

What is in the calculation

Self-consumption at the retail price and exports at 25% of it. Installation split into hardware (similar worldwide) and labour, scaled per country. Solar written off over 25 years with output declining to 85%, batteries over 15 years.

What is not included

No discounting, maintenance, financing, subsidies, import duties or price rises. Peak shaving and arbitrage are left out until we hold the tariff data per country — so a real case is usually better than this, not worse.

These are modelled averages for the country, meant for comparing markets. Your own case runs on your roof, your load profile and your tariff — the configurator computes it with the rules that apply here.

Download these figures (JSON)

How each figure is calculated

Figure	Unit	Definition
Installation labour cost	×	Cost of installation labour relative to Belgium (1.0). Eurostat construction labour cost for Europe, elsewhere derived from GDP per capita. Hardware is priced the same worldwide; only the labour part is scaled.
Grid access	%	Share of the population with an electricity connection (World Bank, most recent year).
Grid reliability		1 = reliable (rare outages), 2 = moderate (occasional outages or regional load shedding), 3 = unreliable (frequent outages or structural load shedding). The tier decides what solar is compared against: the grid tariff, a diesel generator, or both.
Grid price	USD/kWh	All-in retail price of a kilowatt-hour taken from the grid, the baseline every other figure is measured against.
Solar cost over 25 years	USD/kWh	Installation cost divided by everything the panels produce over 25 years, with output declining to 85 percent. The cost of the panels themselves, not of a consumed kilowatt-hour.
Cost per kWh with solar	USD/kWh	What a consumed kilowatt-hour costs with solar and no battery: grid purchase for the uncovered hours, plus the installation written off, minus the revenue on exported power.
Cost per kWh with solar and battery	USD/kWh	The same calculation with a battery that carries one night, written off over 15 years.
Cost per kWh against diesel	USD/kWh	Cost of a consumed kilowatt-hour where the alternative is a generator: solar with three days of storage, with the generator covering what is left.
Net saving over 25 years	USD/kWp	What one kWp of solar saves over 25 years after deducting the installation: self-consumption at the retail price plus exports at a quarter of it.
Payback, solar only	years	Years until the annual saving has paid back the installation, without discounting. Longer than ten years is reported as "over ten years": at that horizon the assumptions matter more than the outcome.
Payback, solar and battery	years	The same, for solar plus a battery that carries one night.
Payback, solar and three-day battery	years	The same, for solar plus three days of storage measured against the grid tariff. Three days of storage buys autonomy; against a cheap tariff it rarely pays for itself.
Payback against diesel	years	Years until solar with three days of storage has paid for itself against the fuel and maintenance of a generator.
Annual saving	USD/kWp/year	What one kWp of solar saves in a year: self-consumption at the retail price plus exports at a quarter of it.

Solar autonomy scorecard · Modelled estimate

Can a business in Botswana run on solar and a battery?

With PV sized at 120% of annual consumption, a battery that carries one night covers 84% of the demand in Botswana; a battery holding three days of consumption lifts that to 94%.

Generation is moderately seasonal: the strongest month yields 2.3× the weakest.

In the three leanest months 5.3% of the annual consumption stays uncovered — a gap a generator or a modest grid connection can fill.

Businesses pay on average 0.123 USD per kWh, households 0.094 USD per kWh.

Electricity price, businesses: 0.123USD/kWh
Electricity price, households: 0.094USD/kWh
PV yield: 1,900kWh/kWp
Seasonal spread: 2.3×strongest ÷ weakest month
Three-day battery: 13.0kWh/kWp
Lean-season deficit: 5.3%of annual consumption

Two battery scenarios

Both with PV sized at 120% of annual consumption.

Day-night battery

Stores the daytime surplus for the following night.

Self-sufficiency: 84%
Self-consumption: 70%
Battery size: 2.4 kWh/kWp

Three-day battery

Holds three full days of consumption, to ride through overcast spells.

Self-sufficiency: 94%
Self-consumption: 79%
Battery size: 13.0 kWh/kWp

Generation and demand through the year

Share of the annual total per month. Modelled from latitude and climate class, not measured.

PV yield Consumption

Weakest month: 4.7%
Strongest month: 10.9%
Seasonal spread: 2.3×
Consumption profile: mild summer peak (cooling)
Climate class: summer-rain subtropical

PV yield / Consumption — Botswana

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PV yield (%)	10.5	10.5	9.1	7.3	5.6	4.7	5.1	6.7	8.7	10.3	10.9	10.6
Consumption (%)	8.9	8.9	8.5	8.1	7.7	7.7	7.7	7.7	8.1	8.5	8.9	8.9

A lean season to cover

In the three leanest months 5.3% of the annual consumption stays uncovered — a gap a generator or a modest grid connection can fill.

Every modelled value for Botswana

The same fields as the downloadable dataset, with their definition.

Variable	Value	Definition
Continent`continent`	Africa	Continent the country belongs to.
Country`country`	Botswana	Country name in English.
Region`region`	—	Climate region within the country; empty when the country is modelled as one region.
Electricity price, households`price_households_usd_mwh`	0.094 USD/kWh USD/MWh	Average all-in retail price for households, national average. Static average, not a dynamic or market price.
Electricity price, businesses`price_businesses_usd_mwh`	0.123 USD/kWh USD/MWh	Average all-in retail price for businesses, national average. Empty where the source publishes no business price.
PV yield`pv_yield_kwh_kwp`	1,900 kWh/kWp/year	Estimated annual yield of a well-oriented PV system per installed kWp, rounded to the nearest fifty.
Weakest month share`weakest_month_share_pct`	4.7%	Share of the annual yield produced in the weakest of the twelve months (the wet season in monsoon climates, winter elsewhere). A perfectly flat year gives one twelfth per month.
Strongest month share`strongest_month_share_pct`	10.9%	Share of the annual yield produced in the strongest of the twelve months.
Seasonal spread`seasonal_spread`	2.3×	Strongest month divided by weakest month. Close to one means flat generation all year; above ten means strongly seasonal.
Self-consumption, day-night battery`self_consumption_daynight_pct`	70%	Share of the PV generation that is used on site with a battery sized to carry one night. Equals self-sufficiency divided by the oversizing factor.
Self-sufficiency, day-night battery`self_sufficiency_daynight_pct`	84%	Share of the annual consumption covered by PV plus a battery sized to carry one night. Never above one hundred percent.
Battery size, day-night`battery_daynight_kwh_kwp`	2.4 kWh/kWp	Battery capacity needed to carry the night-time share of one day of consumption, per kWp of PV.
Self-consumption, three-day battery`self_consumption_3day_pct`	79%	Share of the PV generation that is used on site with a battery holding three days of consumption.
Self-sufficiency, three-day battery`self_sufficiency_3day_pct`	94%	Share of the annual consumption covered by PV plus a battery holding three days of consumption. This is the figure the energy-island assessment is based on.
Battery size, three-day`battery_3day_kwh_kwp`	13 kWh/kWp	Battery capacity equal to three days of consumption, per kWp of PV.
Consumption profile`consumption_profile`	mild summer peak (cooling)	Assumed seasonal shape of demand for the climate: winter peak (heating), summer peak (cooling), double peak or near-flat.
Lean-season deficit`winter_deficit_pct`	5.3%	Demand that stays unmet during the three consecutive lowest-yield months, despite the three-day battery, as a share of annual consumption. It is what remains for the grid, a backup generator or seasonal storage.
Lean-season deficit, absolute`winter_deficit_kwh_kwp`	84.2 kWh/kWp	The same deficit expressed in kWh per kWp of PV.
Latitude`latitude`	-22 °	Representative latitude used by the astronomical yield model; negative is the southern hemisphere.
Climate class`climate`	summer-rain subtropical	Climate class that sets the monthly cloud pattern, day-to-day variability and consumption profile.
Monthly yield shares`monthly_yield_share_pct`	10.5 · 10.5 · 9.1 · 7.3 · 5.6 · 4.7 · 5.1 · 6.7 · 8.7 · 10.3 · 10.9 · 10.6	Twelve values, January to December: share of the annual PV yield per month. Modelled from latitude and climate class, not measured.
Monthly consumption shares`monthly_consumption_share_pct`	8.9 · 8.9 · 8.5 · 8.1 · 7.7 · 7.7 · 7.7 · 7.7 · 8.1 · 8.5 · 8.9 · 8.9	Twelve values, January to December: assumed share of the annual consumption per month.

Download this scorecard as JSON

How the model works

Monthly PV yield comes from an astronomical model (latitude, declination, tilt) multiplied by a climate pattern for cloud and rain. Day-to-day variability follows a gamma distribution per climate; multi-day coverage is the sum of independent days. Seasonal consumption is set per climate: a winter peak for heating, a summer peak for cooling, a double peak in Mediterranean climates.

Fixed assumptions

PV sized at 120% of annual consumption; 55% of consumption falls outside direct sun hours; battery round-trip efficiency 92%.

What it is not

An analytical approximation, not an hourly simulation of your site. Prices are static national averages, not dynamic or market prices. The deficit is not a storage recommendation: it quantifies what remains for grid, backup or seasonal storage.

Sources

Electricity prices: national averages, Q2 2026.
PV yield: Estimates in line with Global Solar Atlas (World Bank / Solargis), rounded to the nearest 50 kWh/kWp.
Licence: CC BY 4.0.
Dataset updated 2026-09-22

From country average to your own roof

The configurator is not live for Botswana yet. See where it runs today, or ask us to model your site.

See where the configurator is live Talk to an engineer

Botswana — solar autonomy in short

Can a business in Botswana go off-grid with solar and a battery?

With PV sized at 120% of annual consumption, a battery that carries one night covers 84% of the demand in Botswana; a battery holding three days of consumption lifts that to 94%. In the three leanest months 5.3% of the annual consumption stays uncovered — a gap a generator or a modest grid connection can fill.

How large a battery does solar autonomy take in Botswana?

Per kWp of PV, carrying one night takes about 2.4 kWh of battery and holding three days of consumption about 13.0 kWh. With the three-day battery, self-sufficiency reaches 94%.

How much does solar generation in Botswana vary between seasons?

A well-oriented system yields about 1,900 kWh per kWp a year. The strongest month produces 2.3× the weakest: 10.9% against 4.7% of the annual yield.

What does electricity cost in Botswana?

Businesses pay on average 0.123 USD per kWh, households 0.094 USD per kWh.

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