'Is the solar panel boom over?' - SA solar industry loses key player as Hohm Energy enters voluntary liquidation

Stephen Grootes speaks to Jan Vermeulen, editor of MyBroadband.

Listen to the interview in the audio player below.

Solar energy company Hohm Energy filed for voluntary liquidation, after entering into business rescue just six weeks ago.

The company said it was battling to manage its cash flow and couldn't service its debt.

Hohm energy's demise comes as South Africa experiences uninterrupted power supply from Eskom for more than 100 days, which is in stark contrast to a year ago when loadshedding was a daily occurrence.

During that period, South Africans were flocking to install solar panels as an alternative energy supply to Eskom.

Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Jan Vermeulen, editor at MyBroadband says the solar panel boom seems to be coming to an end. 

Vermeulen however says high electricity prices are however keeping the industry alive. 

"We've spoken to quite a few people in the solar industry, and the feedback across the board is that demand has plummeted."

- Jan Vermeulen, editor - MyBroadband

"...That doesn't mean there's no demand. There's plenty, plenty of people still putting up solar panels. Eskom pricing now driving demand more than load shedding did..."

- Jan Vermeulen, editor - MyBroadband

"...There are plenty of solar companies that are struggling now, so the ones that are well run and made sure not to over expose themselves or over extend during the boom time, will weather this, but will probably have to scale down operations..."

- Jan Vermeulen, editor - MyBroadband

Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the full interview.