Eskom energy costs have increased so it is viable go off-grid and get your capital costs back with return

[itareanlnotani]

This is about right, having a look at the spend I myself have done

It's about 40% higher than that at least. His pricing doesn't match reality as it stands 2022, or even 2021

8kW Hybrid is closer to 35k now
5kW panels 32k
10kW battery around 50k
15k fuses, panel, brackets etc (those rose in price crazily last year).

Add in install, and engineering sign-off, you're looking at closer to 170k, not 125k.

 

[Veneficus]

Personally with JHB electrical pricing I am seriously considering putting in proper size solar set
Then going prepaid
With JHB's service and Networks charge costing R768.21 per month before you use 1c of power and then having to pay your usage bill on top of that it just really looks easier to get them to move you to prepaid
Especially since my usage is already generally low

And then only using prepaid citypower if really needed


Rest of the time just using the sun

 

[B-1]

Personally with JHB electrical pricing I am seriously considering putting in proper size solar set
Then going prepaid
With JHB's service and Networks charge costing R768.21 per month before you use 1c of power and then having to pay your usage bill on top of that it just really looks easier to get them to move you to prepaid
Especially since my usage is already generally low

And then only using prepaid citypower if really needed


Rest of the time just using the sun

They want people on prepaid because they have no idea how to manage money. Once most are on prepaid the service charges will come to a prepaid meter near you as well.

 

[Veneficus]

They want people on prepaid because they have no idea how to manage money. Once most are on prepaid the service charges will come to a prepaid meter near you as well.

True
But if you put a system in that can provide enough power normally then you could quite possibly run months without using any electricity supplied by city power
Which you would not have to pay service charge for

While you are on the post paid system you would have to pay every month even when not using any power supplied by Citypower

Add in that they have been trying to get approval for "R230 service charge" on prepaid for 4 years and it has been rejected so far

 

[B-1]

True
But if you put a system in that can provide enough power normally then you could quite possibly run months without using any electricity supplied by city power
Which you would not have to pay service charge for

While you are on the post paid system you would have to pay every month even when not using any power supplied by Citypower

Add in that they have been trying to get approval for "R230 service charge" on prepaid for 4 years and it has been rejected so far

The service charges are for access to electricity. Whether you use or don't use it doesn't matter they just add it to your normal rates and taxes as a separate item.

 

[Neuk_]

Personally with JHB electrical pricing I am seriously considering putting in proper size solar set
Then going prepaid
With JHB's service and Networks charge costing R768.21 per month before you use 1c of power and then having to pay your usage bill on top of that it just really looks easier to get them to move you to prepaid
Especially since my usage is already generally low

And then only using prepaid citypower if really needed


Rest of the time just using the sun

A neighbour up the road did this a few years back, she basically has the following:

15kVa Victron Quattro
9 Pylontech US3000B's
x PV panels (I am unsure of the number and spec but it is a lot)

In the last 3 years she can recall using around R500 worth of prepaid electricity from CoJ.

 

[Veneficus]

The service charges are for access to electricity. Whether you use or don't use it doesn't matter they just add it to your normal rates and taxes as a separate item.

Yes it is a service charge that was added 4 years ago
But one you do not pay if you change to pre paid

City Power has been trying to add a service charge to pre-paid for 4 years now but have been blocked from doing so
They currently want to add R230/pm one

So no it does not get added to another section of your normal COJ bill if you move to pre-paid
At least not according to any info I have been able to find anywhere
And trust me I already miss trust COJ' billing

Thanks Neuk that confirms the info I got
The difference there is the amount of power she uses seem to be quite a large amount
Just her battery power if split between 2 days constant use would come to 472kWa
That is close to 100% my monthly use
Never mind my evening use
Her system sounds in line with someone who uses about 1500kWa a month

Disadvantage is I do not pump anything back into the grid
But I can honestly not see reason why I would spend more to pump massive amount of extra power in just to cover power I rarely use for which I get allot less money discounted on my bill than if I used it
So if for every 1kWh I pump back I might get 0.2kWh(estimated) back to use

There was recently an article that if you set up solar system to push power back into the grid then it would take 7 years to break even

 

[Veneficus]

This article backs what I picked up
Post paid electricity in JHB has massive surcharge that goes away on pre paid

How much electricity R1k, R2k will buy you in SA’s biggest metros

Comparison of tariffs reveals who is paying the most.

www.moneyweb.co.za

 

[Major Boredom]

Correct. During 80% of sunny days you over produce, feed back to grid, get kWh credits, and when needed, you pull from grid.

Easy to say. Have you actually done this ?
I have a hybrid system and it is far from cost effective as a private individual to feed back into the grid in Ekh

For R260k you would be very close to being offgrid, even for a bigger household . Enough that you can keep Eskom costs to a minimum

In EKH you can save enough to change from the flat rate to prepaid IBT ( Which does not have an access fee ). It brings a R3000+elect bill down to maybe R300 to R500pm

 

[Paul_S]

Tshwane is also pushing for a fixed service/availability charge on pre-paid electricity.

Nersa rejects Tshwane’s fixed charges and proposed power tariffs | The Citizen

The regulator will also be ensuring that Tshwane refunds customers who have been overcharged.

www.citizen.co.za

The service/access charges for electricity are a money making racket. The municipalities already charge exorbitant fees per kWh which should cover distribution and maintenance costs.
Now people are getting wise to the fact and moving to pre-paid and it is causing the municipalities major money headaches. How are they going to pay themselves lavish salaries as well as appease ANC voters by subsidizing their "free" electricity?

I would not be surprised if the service charge on pre-paid is pushed through at some point with exemptions for properties below a certain value to keep the voters happy. This social experiment is not sustainable and is not going to end well.

 

[Paul_S]

There was recently an article that if you set up solar system to push power back into the grid then it would take 7 years to break even

That's assuming there is a reasonable feed in/back tariff.
Tshwane pays 10c/kWh if you feed back into the grid making it a entirely unfeasible. It would be cheaper to just go off-grid and have a backup generator for the rainy days.
Don't worry, every time Eskom puts the tariffs up we're all one step closer to going off-grid. We can thank them later for their greed and stupidity.

 

[AchmatK]

Tshwane is also pushing for a fixed service/availability charge on pre-paid electricity.

Nersa rejects Tshwane’s fixed charges and proposed power tariffs | The Citizen

The regulator will also be ensuring that Tshwane refunds customers who have been overcharged.

www.citizen.co.za

The service/access charges for electricity are a money making racket. The municipalities already charge exorbitant fees per kWh which should cover distribution and maintenance costs.
Now people are getting wise to the fact and moving to pre-paid and it is causing the municipalities major money headaches. How are they going to pay themselves lavish salaries as well as appease ANC voters by subsidizing their "free" electricity?

I would not be surprised if the service charge on pre-paid is pushed through at some point with exemptions for properties below a certain value to keep the voters happy. This social experiment is not sustainable and is not going to end well.

It's greed.

CoCT admitted in their notice last year on the increases that 65% goes to buying electricity in bulk from Eskom so surely the 35% difference should be for maintenance and distribution costs.

 

[TheChamp]

Tshwane is also pushing for a fixed service/availability charge on pre-paid electricity.

Nersa rejects Tshwane’s fixed charges and proposed power tariffs | The Citizen

The regulator will also be ensuring that Tshwane refunds customers who have been overcharged.

www.citizen.co.za

The service/access charges for electricity are a money making racket. The municipalities already charge exorbitant fees per kWh which should cover distribution and maintenance costs.
Now people are getting wise to the fact and moving to pre-paid and it is causing the municipalities major money headaches. How are they going to pay themselves lavish salaries as well as appease ANC voters by subsidizing their "free" electricity?

I would not be surprised if the service charge on pre-paid is pushed through at some point with exemptions for properties below a certain value to keep the voters happy. This social experiment is not sustainable and is not going to end well.

Free electricity is for poor households not for ANC voters, and what business does a DA municipality like Tshwane has trying to appease ANC voters?

 

[zerocool2009]

Personally with JHB electrical pricing I am seriously considering putting in proper size solar set
Then going prepaid
With JHB's service and Networks charge costing R768.21 per month before you use 1c of power and then having to pay your usage bill on top of that it just really looks easier to get them to move you to prepaid
Especially since my usage is already generally low

And then only using prepaid citypower if really needed


Rest of the time just using the sun

Its like the sewerage levy/charge! Not 1 flush .... ka-ching “money honey”

 

[Jladan]

Has anyone actually done the switch over to prepaid bit in coj ? How much of a ball ache is it and do they allow you to do this if they know you have solar ? Lastly do you need a plug on the Eskom side of your inverter to recharge ? I’ve heard the inverter blocks the signal to your meter.

Since I put in the solar I’m now paying something stupid like over R5 kwh due to the standing other postpaid charges

 

[semaphore]

Has anyone actually done the switch over to prepaid bit in coj ? How much of a ball ache is it and do they allow you to do this if they know you have solar ? Lastly do you need a plug on the Eskom side of your inverter to recharge ? I’ve heard the inverter blocks the signal to your meter.

Since I put in the solar I’m now paying something stupid like over R5 kwh due to the standing other postpaid charges

I plan to start the process later this month

 

[Veneficus]

That's assuming there is a reasonable feed in/back tariff.
Tshwane pays 10c/kWh if you feed back into the grid making it a entirely unfeasible. It would be cheaper to just go off-grid and have a backup generator for the rainy days.
Don't worry, every time Eskom puts the tariffs up we're all one step closer to going off-grid. We can thank them later for their greed and stupidity.

100% exactly as I thought
No use staying on post paid taking into account the cost vs return

 

[RonSwanson]

Has anyone actually done the switch over to prepaid bit in coj ? How much of a ball ache is it and do they allow you to do this if they know you have solar ? Lastly do you need a plug on the Eskom side of your inverter to recharge ? I’ve heard the inverter blocks the signal to your meter.

Since I put in the solar I’m now paying something stupid like over R5 kwh due to the standing other postpaid charges

Yes, you do need a dedicated plug on the municipal side. It's more a case of the poor PLCs than the inverter "blocking the signal" though.

 

[Jladan]

Scuse the ignorance PLC?

 

[Saba'a]

Scuse the ignorance PLC?

Think its the electricity meter? But lets hear as I also wondered what is a PLC?