Four years after her first client, Rapelang Ramachodi reflects on breaking into a technical industry as a non-engineer
Katlego Sekhu
For Rapelang Ramachodi, MD of Solar Rev Solutions, the road into renewable energy started somewhere far less glamorous: a bucket, a squeegee, and a lockdown-era window-cleaning business.
Speaking to Fresh and Thato on Kaya Breakfast‘s Big Moves, Ramachodi unpacked how a curious question on a routine job turned into a fully fledged solar panel maintenance company, one now positioning itself in an industry still largely dominated by big players.
“I think my journey has been very unconventional,” she said. “Coming from a background that is not of engineering, not technical. I come from a marketing and business development background.”
Ramachadi’s path began with a client. During the pandemic, her cleaning business was hired to wash windows for a company that happened to have solar panels installed.
“So out of curiosity, and me being curious, I wanted to find out how do you actually clean these panels,” she explained. “I knew nothing about the renewable energy at the time… And that’s when I got curious. I started investigating and doing some research. And I found this whole new industry called renewable energy.”
That research became a pivot. Ramachodi was careful to explain that stepping into a new industry didn’t mean abandoning the one that got her there.
“It wasn’t a complete shutdown,” she said. “It was a gradual, you know, integration into the industry. Because you can’t just completely shut down and just move on to the next one. So you gradually have to navigate into the market, make sure you understand the market while you’re still servicing your existing customers.”
Today, SolarRev Solutions operates as a specialist in robotic solar panel cleaning, with a mandate that goes beyond the surface.
“We make sure that we optimise solar panel systems that have been installed,” Ramachodi said, “and make sure that one, we increase their performance, right, optimise the performance, maximise it. And we also make sure that we extend the lifespan of the system, because the intended lifespan of it is 25 years.”
But the beginning was anything but smooth. Ramachodi was candid about how difficult it was to establish credibility as an outsider in a technical field.
“Month one looked like me trying to navigate the industry, me putting myself out there and showing up as myself,” she said. “No one knows me. No one knows Solar Rev. And no one understands what we are doing. And everyone in the industry undermines the sector… I’m not technical. I’m not an engineer.”
It took six months of pushing before the business landed its first client, and even then, the breakthrough came from an unplanned moment at a networking event.
“I attended a networking event,” she recalled. “I met a client that I’d always wanted to work with. I told him, I always wanted to work with you. I’m here. I want to work with you. Give me an opportunity… And he was open enough to really give me an opportunity in the space. And that’s how I got my first client.”
To hear the full discussion, listen to the Kaya Breakfast podcast.
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