South Africa has been struggling to cope with its energy demand. In order to remedy the problem, the government of South Africa has committed itself to pursuing renewable energy as a viable alternative to traditional sources such as fossil fuels. The aim of this study is to understand whether or not the policies pursued by the South African government in the period 1990-2010 have had any effect on the behaviour of consumers and producers of renewable energy. To this end, the Bai & Perron (1998, 2003) break test methodology is employed to understand how renewable energy production and consumption series have evolved over this period. Deviations from the base case are then explained in the South African economic and policy context.