Factors to consider when speccing a solar power system

Jan

Jan

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How to build the best solar power system for your needs

Eskom load-shedding in 2023 has already surpassed previous years, and to help reduce demand on the grid, government is incentivising solar power installations for households and businesses.

However, choosing the right backup power system for your needs can be challenging, and several aspects must be considered before deciding on one.
 
Speedster said:
30% maths coming in handy here
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Its another Myles article, where the facts don't matter.* are less important.
(watch Jan ban me hahahahaah)


Back to the article, yeah 700k for 40kWh/day seems a bit OTT


For reference, lead-acid battery capacity tends to degrade when discharged below 50%, meaning you must install double the battery capacity to meet your requirements.
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I would actually say 70% to be fair, looking at discharge rating sheets for most lead acid.


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*A reference from Who's line is it anyway, where the points don't matter. [
]

Edit - added the h to reference above, as I didn't have it, and we all know kW refers to power and kWh refers to energy used over a period of time.
 
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itareanlnotani said:
Its another Myles article, where the facts don't matter.* are less important.
(watch Jan ban me hahahahaah)
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I don't mind people having fun on the forum, but I draw the line at getting personal with my journalists.

Feel free to be a douche (i.e. smug in the belief you are right) when offering corrections like the CoCT AMI Tariff, but don't do this.

Thanks.
 
Jan said:
I don't mind people having fun on the forum, but I draw the line at getting personal with my journalists.

Feel free to be a douche (i.e. smug in the belief you are right) when offering corrections like the CoCT AMI Tariff, but don't do this.

Thanks.
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I see you went and fixed it. Ideally a note on this article to say its been corrected too wouldn't hurt.

Out of the things I've mentioned today.

- Fact checking
- Quoting sources.
I should probably add - note corrections to an article, even if its a minor one.

I've also mentioned your propensity for misusing certain words in headlines, some retrospection there to say hey, I do see we at MyBB have been overusing certain phrases, perhaps we should look at other wording might be in order.

You'll note this is all constructive criticism.

Yes, I am snarky at times, but I do want you at MyBB to do better. Be better.

Thanks.
 
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Jan said:
How to build the best solar power system for your needs

Eskom load-shedding in 2023 has already surpassed previous years, and to help reduce demand on the grid, government is incentivising solar power installations for households and businesses.

However, choosing the right backup power system for your needs can be challenging, and several aspects must be considered before deciding on one.
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Odd, this Hattingh guy seems kinda clueless. I pull close to 1.1mwh a month on my system and it cost me 200K.
 
itareanlnotani said:
I see you went and fixed it. Ideally a note on this article to say its been corrected too wouldn't hurt.

Out of the things I've mentioned today.

- Fact checking
- Quoting sources.
I should probably add - note corrections to an article, even if its a minor one.

I've also mentioned your propensity for misusing certain words in headlines, some retrospection there to say hey, I do see we at MyBB have been overusing certain phrases, perhaps we should look at other wording might be in order.

You'll note this is all constructive criticism.

Yes, I am snarky at times, but I do want you at MyBB to do better. Be better.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Post your concerns here : https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/article-mistake-corrections.137838/
 
itareanlnotani said:
Around 250-300k at current pricing.

Not as much increase as you'd expect, as batteries have held steady (due to cost decreases), while the rand has nosedived, leading to other parts increasing.
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Yeah, I was expecting around there. Just wanted to put the full story out there that people who bought a year ago got a good deal. Hopefully with lithium prices dropping and loadshitting easing up that prices will come down. Lets hope the Rand behaves too. Also, being able to use 100% of PV each day helps too.
 
Vorastra said:
How much of your usage is that 1.1MWh covering? Also holy sht some okes use a lot of juice.
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Let's just say this is my usage for this year :

Yearly Consumption
13.85 MWh

:p

And this is the total consumption since I've installed my solar (Nov 21).

Total Consumption
41.03 MWh
 
itareanlnotani said:
Around 250-300k at current pricing.

Not as much increase as you'd expect, as batteries have held steady (due to cost decreases), while the rand has nosedived, leading to other parts increasing.
Click to expand...
Yep about 250, friend is getting similar setup to mine.
 
Eat my shorts said:
700k? what was he smoking? His Christmas wish list?
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700k would be the case only if one plan to use only solar power for everything, including geyser, cooking, etc, even during the worst of weather (e.g. 5 days of heavy clouds and rain).

However, this extra capacity will be completely overkill for the other 360 days of the year - and there are significantly cheaper options available to get you through such bad conditions for a few days: usually just using the grid, or a small to medium generator.
 
G.A.S said:
700k would be the case only if one plan to use only solar power for everything, including geyser, cooking, etc, even during the worst of weather (e.g. 5 days of heavy clouds and rain).

However, this extra capacity will be completely overkill for the other 360 days of the year - and there are significantly cheaper options available to get you through such bad conditions for a few days: usually just using the grid, or a small to medium generator.
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Grid isn't an option in the totally off grid examine he gave though. I do agree R700k is way excessive.
 
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