Drastic Electricity Bill Drop as Wetility’s Latest Software Innovation Disrupts the Market
Johanna Horz 1 May 2025
Wetility’s AI mode is a market-first, solving South Africa’s twin challenges of rising electricity tariffs and inconsistent power supply. “Over the past year, we have seen customers increasingly turn to solar not just for power continuity, but for cost savings,” says Ikenna Oguguo, Wetility’s Chief Product Officer. “Until now, users had to choose between maximizing savings or backup power security. AI mode eliminates this compromise and allows our users to have both at the same time.”
Using advanced predictive algorithms, AI mode removes the mental burden from customers managing their energy systems within South Africa’s volatile electricity landscape. AI mode integrates minute-by-minute real-time data, physics-based predictive solar modelling, and unique personalized customer consumption insights. In practice this means AI mode processes millions of data points, including real-time data on power usage, historical preferences, current and upcoming weather patterns, and the size of the solar system.
Smoothly making data-driven decisions faster than a person could, AI mode is the simplest and most informed way to charge and discharge the battery. This performance breakthrough ensures optimal solar usage and backup readiness, making the system much more capable than before. Despite the technological advancement, the customer experience is intuitive and easy to use. Accessible via the Wetility App, customers can monitor, control, and predict their solar system performance on one integrated platform.
AI mode delivers exceptional financial value—saving user with electricity bills of R2 000 per month upwards of R21000 per year. Beta testing results with over 300 households showed aggressive increases in electricity bill savings for Wetility customers. For instance, one customer’s solar usage rose to a groundbreaking 90.99% within three days of switching to AI mode.
Wetility’s breakthrough in intelligent energy management has been in development and Alpha testing for over 15 months, says Oguguo: “The key challenge was engineering a system that could deliver major savings without compromising load shedding protection. With AI mode, we’ve achieved this, without costing the customer anything. During March Beta tests, hundreds of users ran on AI mode during active load shedding—and none lost power. This outcome reflects our customer-first and deeply localized design philosophy.”
AI mode unlocks the next step in Wetility’s mission to make sustainable energy independence available to everyone. With AI mode, Wetility adds solar supply optimization, whilst previous steps to maximize electricity bill savings focused on reducing demand. Specifically, in 2023 Wetility included a smart geyser control and surge protection in its Beast Bundle – South Africa’s first all-in-one solar bundle – to tackle demand-side inefficiencies.
The geyser control system provides for the customer’s usage patterns, but heats water when solar generation is highest—cutting water heating costs by up to R600 per month. Meanwhile, surge protection prevents damage to key appliances during grid instability.
With only around 10% of South Africa’s 20 million households currently using solar, Wetility believes innovations like AI mode will drive mass adoption by delivering near-instant savings.
Wetility continues its investment in advanced R&D to unlock smarter, more inclusive energy solutions. Developed entirely in-house, AI mode marks a pivotal step toward a future where solar not only powers homes—but pays them back.