Cape Town checklist for buying a solar power system

[s0lar]

All of South Africa's problems are caused by malformed rules and regulations. Every single one of them.

Its has become the cultural norm to ignore the rules. Just look at taxi's on the road. Im not that old but I remember a time when that kind of behavior was unacceptable.

I like anarchy as much as the next but its not what SA needs. Living here is Europe for a while and all rules are followed even the small ones like not littering. Its cultural here and it works.

 

[s0lar]

I am totally pro rules and regulations, but not socialist rules and regulations. CoCT is also trying to socialistically regulate the taxi industry and hereby causing war like damage to property. Same overreach of power in terms of solar. PE`s solar uptake completely outpaced that of CPT.

Oh Benny. There is good reason for compliance or there would be anarchy. More than what there is, just look at Gauteng for example..

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

Oh Benny. There is good reason for compliance or there would be anarchy. More than what there is, just look at Gauteng for example..

No, there was anarchy because they tried to regulate something that even the greatest dumbass on earth knows can`t be regulated. And this caused the war between CoCT, private transport, and informal taxis.

Use rate payers money to regulate the taxi industry and cause a war. Epic DA fail!

 

[konfab]

Its has become the cultural norm to ignore the rules. Just look at taxi's on the road. Im not that old but I remember a time when that kind of behavior was unacceptable.

That is one of the reasons why I will never leave South Africa. This place is ungovernable.

I like anarchy as much as the next but its not what SA needs. Living here is Europe for a while and all rules are followed even the small ones like not littering. Its cultural here and it works.

Applying first world standards in South Africa is a joke. A very large chunk of the population in South African urban areas don't live in places where something called an electrical compliance certificate has never been uttered.

Allowing people to do their own thing up to a point is how you solve the problem. I just gave a very technically sound way they can do it. Presuming everyone who wants to install solar to insulate themselves from state failure is a criminal is not how you fix the problem.

It needs to be the point where people can buy a compliant system from builders with solar, set it up themselves and enjoy not having load shedding.

Taxis for example, are a direct product of regulation, where they have a legal monopoly on routes. And things like requiring a special driving licence and special insurance. It is b.s.
With taxis, just enforce the same standards that you would enforce on everyone else on the road.

 

[s0lar]

Epic DA fail!

Aah, so thats why you are so grumpy on any subject to do with the Cape.

You don't live there so chill Winston, chill.

 

[Sapphiron]

If COCT wanted rapid adoption of solar they would just specify that you can do whatever you want, so long as you
1) Buy a premade system in terms of inverter and solar controller, with a battery.
2) That the total power the system can deliver is 3.8kVA max. That is 16A at its source.

The reason why is that 16A is what most heavy-duty extension cords can deliver safely. That means if someone plugs in more than what the inverter could ever handle, it will just trip and turn off. So if someone wants to make a second grid in their house, it doesn't really matter.

It would make absolutely no different to COCT if you put a few solar panels to juice this up during load shedding, because it would never feed into the grid.

All a person would need to do is just register the portable system. You log in to your municipal account. You click the DIY install. You upload the invoice for the system, along with a picture of it in its installed location, and you tell them how many solar panels you want to connect to it. Basically 0 to the rated input of the solar controller is allowed, and you can update this at any time by logging in and changing it.

Notification, not permission.

That addresses the needs of the municipality 100% without putting any real administrative burden on anyone who wants to help stop load shedding for themselves.

If you go bigger than 3.8kVA you can start getting to the point where overloading the cables can become an issue, so that is where you need an electrician.

That makes far too much sense for anyone in government to be able to understand it.

 

[shadow_man]

I am totally pro rules and regulations, but not socialist rules and regulations. CoCT is also trying to socialistically regulate the taxi industry and hereby causing war like damage to property. Same overreach of power in terms of solar. PE`s solar uptake completely outpaced that of CPT.

Only because they need it to desalinate sea water to drink

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

Only because they need it to desalinate sea water to drink

LOL CPT now consumes more that a billion liters per day, almost like 1.5% of water storage a day. At this rate CPT will reach day 0 brefore PE, and I think PE`s sea water is not as shyt contamonated as CPT sea water.

 

[Sapphiron]

I am totally pro rules and regulations, but not socialist rules and regulations. CoCT is also trying to socialistically regulate the taxi industry and hereby causing war like damage to property. Same overreach of power in terms of solar. PE`s solar uptake completely outpaced that of CPT.

The brand of socialism used in Africa has more in common with facism than socialism.

Socialism does not require that you ask permission to do every single thing. As an earlier poster said.

1. publish the regulations everyone must comply with
2. require that people register their installations (not ask permission)
3. hire electrical inspectors to look for people who don't comply. not a bunch of administrators that simply push buttons based on people having ticked all the right boxes on a form.
   • Fine the electrician if they did not comply
   • fine the homeowner if they did not comply

Not this fascist, have to complete all the checkboxes to confirm I am allow to be a South African, bureaucratic bullcrap.

 

[Sapphiron]

LOL CPT now consumes more that a billion liters per day, almost like 1.5% of water storage a day. At this rate CPT will reach day 0 brefore PE, and I think PE`s sea water is not as shyt contamonated as CPT sea water.

I don't know, I would be concerned by what is coming down from Durban if I was you. have you ever wondered why the water is so warm up there?

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

The brand of socialism used in Africa has more in common with facism than socialism.

Socialism does not require that you ask permission to do every single thing. As an earlier poster said.

1. publish the regulations everyone must comply with
2. require that people register their installations (not ask permission)
3. hire electrical inspectors to look for people who don't comply. not a bunch of administrators that simply push buttons based on people having ticked all the right boxes on a form.
   • Fine the electrician if they did not comply
   • fine the homeowner if they did not comply

Not this fascist, have to complete all the checkboxes to confirm I am allow to be a South African, bureaucratic bullcrap.

Fascism would be to ban solar systems. Socialism allows it as long as you pay the politicians to help "our people".

 

[dj_jyno]

I don't want to be off-grid, my inverter just isn't a grid tied inverter.

Then the first part of my post stands. As long as you can show that your PV system won't electrocute linemen when they work on the transmission lines, it's all good. As I've said, the Ziehl anti-islanding device is NRS approved.

 

[itareanlnotani]

That is one of the reasons why I will never leave South Africa. This place is ungovernable.


Applying first world standards in South Africa is a joke. A very large chunk of the population in South African urban areas don't live in places where something called an electrical compliance certificate has never been uttered.

Allowing people to do their own thing up to a point is how you solve the problem. I just gave a very technically sound way they can do it. Presuming everyone who wants to install solar to insulate themselves from state failure is a criminal is not how you fix the problem.

It needs to be the point where people can buy a compliant system from builders with solar, set it up themselves and enjoy not having load shedding.

Taxis for example, are a direct product of regulation, where they have a legal monopoly on routes. And things like requiring a special driving licence and special insurance. It is b.s.
With taxis, just enforce the same standards that you would enforce on everyone else on the road.

First world standards only apply to tax payers.

i.e. those that they can extract money from. The rest can do what they want.

 

[krieg]

Then the first part of my post stands. As long as you can show that your PV system won't electrocute linemen when they work on the transmission lines, it's all good. As I've said, the Ziehl anti-islanding device is NRS approved.

R14 000,00+ though.

 

[BTTB]

That is one of the reasons why I will never leave South Africa. This place is ungovernable.

Allowing people to do their own thing up to a point is how you solve the problem. I just gave a very technically sound way they can do it. Presuming everyone who wants to install solar to insulate themselves from state failure is a criminal is not how you fix the problem.

It needs to be the point where people can buy a compliant system from builders with solar, set it up themselves and enjoy not having load shedding.

I bought a kit from powerprovider.
The kit itself has been put together by the savvy people at powerprovider.

A qualified electrician has done all the wiring.

The inverter itself is not grid tied, it can't push power back into my DB or the grid, the electricity can only flow one way.

I want to add some panels.
As the system is not tied into the grid, the COCT is not going to get any excess power from me anyway.
There needs to be some exemption for people like mysel, something that a COCT Electrician can come check, see that it's not grid tied and sign off that it's OK.

What the COCT are asking for is for Grid-Tied Inverters and have made it complicated for people with Off-Grid inverters with their list.

Anyway, before I venture down the solar path, I'll be sure to make my setup above board, no matter how long it takes.

Pic of recent installation.

 

[s0lar]

Applying first world standards in South Africa is a joke. A very large chunk of the population in South African urban areas don't live in places where something called an electrical compliance certificate has never been uttered.

Allowing people to do their own thing up to a point is how you solve the problem. I just gave a very technically sound way they can do it. Presuming everyone who wants to install solar to insulate themselves from state failure is a criminal is not how you fix the problem.

It needs to be the point where people can buy a compliant system from builders with solar, set it up themselves and enjoy not having load shedding.

Taxis for example, are a direct product of regulation, where they have a legal monopoly on routes. And things like requiring a special driving licence and special insurance. It is b.s.
With taxis, just enforce the same standards that you would enforce on everyone else on the road.

Right so rules and governance are a first world colonialist construct, gotcha. You been listening to too many of Julius's speeches.

 

[air]

LOL CPT now consumes more that a billion liters per day, almost like 1.5% of water storage a day. At this rate CPT will reach day 0 brefore PE, and I think PE`s sea water is not as shyt contamonated as CPT sea water.

elaborate more on 1.5% of water storage per day?

 

[itareanlnotani]

I bought a kit from powerprovider.
The kit itself has been put together by the savvy people at powerprovider.

A qualified electrician has done all the wiring.

The inverter itself is not grid tied, it can't push power back into my DB or the grid, the electricity can only flow one way.

I want to add some panels.
As the system is not tied into the grid, the COCT is not going to get any excess power from me anyway.
There needs to be some exemption for people like mysel, something that a COCT Electrician can come check, see that it's not grid tied and sign off that it's OK.

What the COCT are asking for is for Grid-Tied Inverters and have made it complicated for people with Off-Grid inverters with their list.

Anyway, before I venture down the solar path, I'll be sure to make my setup above board, no matter how long it takes.

Pic of recent installation.

Not compliant - its not an NRS97 certified inverter, so can't be connected to grid.

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

elaborate more on 1.5% of water storage per day?

Sorry per week, still a massive amount to loose per week, 1,7%, Must be all the aircons that is off then the tannies bath every hour:

56.8

58.5

 

[Bliksis]

CoCT crying now because of their failed solar policy, enjoy stage 6 CPT! LOL!

What failed policy? Feeding back into the grid?