Cape Town - Solar Install Quotation

Wrath of Khan said:
why not get a Hybrid inverter with an integrated MPPT? You've been quoted R40k for an 8kw inverter + MPPT. You could get 2x Growatt 5kw inverters which have integrated MPPTs for around R25k.. or am I missing something?

I still think the best bet is to buy everything yourself and then get an installer to quote on the job, sometimes these all in one quotes are madness.
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That is one argument you really don't want to start.
 
surface said:
I hear you but battery & solar panel warranty is only worth if the company or the provider exists after 10 years. Most change locations, phone numbers, company names etc so you can't track them down.

I am being my cynical self but tell me a solar installation installer/company that can be traced back at least 10+ years with decent customer feedback (and not talking about hellopeter which is a cesspool)
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Another nice thing is that the warranty is with the manufacturer not necessarily the supplier, so if your Pylontech battery gives you issues and your supplier unfortunately died of Covid or got hooked on drugs you really don't have an issue, just get in touch with Pylontech.

The supplier usually makes things easy for you with their connections but you are not really lost without them. Unless of course in the unlikely event that the manufacturer went bust.
 
surface said:
I drive a17 year old car. LOL. It would take at least 4-5 years for me to recover R200K of "investment" and if ethics of solar installation operators are remotely similar to pool installers, electricians & plumbers etc, I would take my chances with Eskom/COJ for now. Till I have R200K to spare - which looks rather far away considering other things.

To each his own.
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That's pretty damn funny.
 
Wrath of Khan said:
why not get a Hybrid inverter with an integrated MPPT? You've been quoted R40k for an 8kw inverter + MPPT. You could get 2x Growatt 5kw inverters which have integrated MPPTs for around R25k.. or am I missing something?

I still think the best bet is to buy everything yourself and then get an installer to quote on the job, sometimes these all in one quotes are madness.
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No I have not.

That is a hybrid inverter with 2 x MPTT's.

But I've since accepted a completely different quotation for a good 50k less because this was so outrageous.
 
Snyper564 said:
I dont "waste" my money on things that dont benefit me for example still driving my 12 year old corsa

Yeah many ppl complain abt the price of solar but blow a bar on a car. I'll gladly put the money towards solar and something that benefits my life. Daily
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Just checking in. Still driving my 10 year old bakkie here :ROFL:
 
surface said:
This is not directed at you but I have found that people are either not honest at worst or ignorant at best to track exact cost of solar installation & maintenance over, say, 15 years time. Everyone pitches in with X rands at beginning and divide by 5/7. Surely, are we saying that our solar install operators & equipment is so perfect that it will not need any maintenance/breakage/anything at all? Or is it like under 10K rands over 10 years time?
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So I plan to make a dedicated thread with up front pricing and everything included once the stock arrives which should be on Friday and I'll track the journey as honestly as possible in there, including any future upgrades and maintenance being done.

Ethics of installers aren't really a concern, assuming that you get everything registered and COC'd then there really isn't any way to be unethical about it as it has to adhere to a standard and assuming you can do you a bit or research and crowdsourcing like I did here the only other issue would be pricing.

So the solar panels have a 25 year warranty and the Inverter has a 5-year warranty with batteries a 10-year warranty up to specific capacity ratings.

Something to also bear in mind is that the batteries don't just magically die in Year 10, they will likely hit 50% capacity by 15 years and only then start having real issues.

The way I see it is that I pay R2000-ish to Eskom every month now. The moment my solar goes in I'll take the difference after giving Eskom some money (won't buy more than 600 units initially and scale it down as I work out a reasonable average) and then put the rest back in my home loan and build my capital back up along with everything else I save in there (MSA, Tax, Bonuses, Vehicle Finance) and save on interest.

Then should I have any problems or want to upgrade more batteries in the future it will come out of that budget and not straight out of my pocket.
 
surface said:
This is not directed at you but I have found that people are either not honest at worst or ignorant at best to track exact cost of solar installation & maintenance over, say, 15 years time. Everyone pitches in with X rands at beginning and divide by 5/7. Surely, are we saying that our solar install operators & equipment is so perfect that it will not need any maintenance/breakage/anything at all? Or is it like under 10K rands over 10 years time?
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Batteries have warranties. Inverters have warranties, panels have warranties.
Batteries are warrantied for 10years mostly. Panels 25 years.

Inverters should last at least 5-10 years, unforeseen circumstance permitting.. I have some on 12 years going strong.

No maintenance is required really. Not that many moving parts - some fans in inverters, thats about it.
Lightning (in appropriate parts of the country), Wind, for panels. gecko's and bugs are your concerns for inverters as they like to hide in warm spaces.

Most people won't have issues, especially if they don't buy cheap crap.
 
Does anyone have an order with Powerforum right now? Everything went quiet after I paid - 10 days ago. Fixtures were due 23 May and I haven't heard anything. I was told the battery would be available 1 June, so here's hoping.
 
Chris.Geerdts said:
Does anyone have an order with Powerforum right now? Everything went quiet after I paid - 10 days ago. Fixtures were due 23 May and I haven't heard anything. I was told the battery would be available 1 June, so here's hoping.
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I am in the same boat - Paid for my items on Friday the 20th and they still can't give me a concrete delivery date. Did you get your stuff eventually?
 
Onemaxup said:
I am in the same boat - Paid for my items on Friday the 20th and they still can't give me a concrete delivery date. Did you get your stuff eventually?
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I have not received anything yet but did get some news and a promise of feedback on Monday. I was told a batch of Hubble's had arrived and were being dispatched. I'll update if/when I get any formal shipping or tracking details, or arrivals.

Monday is 3 weeks from payment. I guess I'm looking at adding at least 6 - 8 weeks to my payback period before I consume my first solar-generated joule :)
 
Chris.Geerdts said:
I have not received anything yet but did get some news and a promise of feedback on Monday. I was told a batch of Hubble's had arrived and were being dispatched. I'll update if/when I get any formal shipping or tracking details, or arrivals.

Monday is 3 weeks from payment. I guess I'm looking at adding at least 6 - 8 weeks to my payback period before I consume my first solar-generated joule :)
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Paid for my Sunsynk & Hubble on 6 May, Sunsynk laying lonely in the garage waiting for it's battery buddy. No word yet on when that battery will eventually be delivered.
 
Katelknaap said:
Paid for my Sunsynk & Hubble on 6 May, Sunsynk laying lonely in the garage waiting for it's battery buddy. No word yet on when that battery will eventually be delivered.
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Hubble was promised 'between Monday and Wednesday' this week. Not here as of Tuesday midday.

The rest of the kit - I followed up today after not hearing and promise was to ship most of my stuff this afternoon except for the '23 May' items which are still out of stock. No update yet on the Hubble
 
Chris.Geerdts said:
Hubble was promised 'between Monday and Wednesday' this week. Not here as of Tuesday midday.

The rest of the kit - I followed up today after not hearing and promise was to ship most of my stuff this afternoon except for the '23 May' items which are still out of stock. No update yet on the Hubble
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I collected my inverter myself directly from Segen Solar the week after I paid. Spoke to Steve this afternoon, apparently all the Hubbles should be out for delivery and I should still get it this week. He can't give accurate delivery dates or times but says the couriers phone before they deliver.

Let's see, he said I can phone him on Friday if I haven't received it by then. Holding thumbs as yesterday it was a month since I paid and loadshedding is sure to hit us again soon.
 
Katelknaap said:
I collected my inverter myself directly from Segen Solar the week after I paid. Spoke to Steve this afternoon, apparently all the Hubbles should be out for delivery and I should still get it this week. He can't give accurate delivery dates or times but says the couriers phone before they deliver.

Let's see, he said I can phone him on Friday if I haven't received it by then. Holding thumbs as yesterday it was a month since I paid and loadshedding is sure to hit us again soon.
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I got a tracking number from them this afternoon (for most of the stuff).

The Hubble is not here but you ordered before me so presumably should get it sooner.
 
Steve also contacted me yesterday - He's promised to deliver the other stuff in the mean time this week while we wait for the second batch of Hubble shipment, which is expected around the 15th (next week).
 
I am also waiting on 2 Hubbles. I assume there are hundreds of orders that need to be shipped once stock landed. Chaos I presume.
 
Chris.Geerdts said:
Does anyone have an order with Powerforum right now? Everything went quiet after I paid - 10 days ago. Fixtures were due 23 May and I haven't heard anything. I was told the battery would be available 1 June, so here's hoping.
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Onemaxup said:
I am in the same boat - Paid for my items on Friday the 20th and they still can't give me a concrete delivery date. Did you get your stuff eventually?
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Same here, paid on the 31st, and all the comms has been myself asking for updates.

It was "only" 50K, but if we have to wait weeks for delivery, that money could earn interest in money market account
 
PFS needs to hire someone dedicated to only comms. Poor Steve must be swamped from all the recommendations to deal with him...
 
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