Feeding electricity back to the grid?

R

rsd

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I heard someone mention that Cape Town municipality is trying to get this right.

Does anyone have any info?

I'd be really interested in putting up some solar panels etc. If I could basically use the grid for storage. I.e. run my excess power during the day back to the grid (store some in batteries as well), then buy it back at night when I need it more.
 
Its not a matter of "getting it right"...the tech has been 100% for years.

SA legislation doesn't currently allow it, but they are planning on changing that.

Oh and don't try to DIY this...its dangerous for the line techs.
 
Sounds ideal.. can this be run in a battery-less environment? My understanding is that the batteries are the Achilles heel of green power - $$$ too.
 
carudden said:
Sounds ideal.. can this be run in a battery-less environment? My understanding is that the batteries are the Achilles heel of green power - $$$ too.
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I'd still want batteries to give me some kind of buffer when there is a power failure / load shedding etc, but it would make the whole exercise a lot more appealing.

@Havoc - I know it's technically possible, but are you saying the substations and everything are already kitted out to handle it? What about the metering side of things?
 
HavocXphere said:
Its not a matter of "getting it right"...the tech has been 100% for years.

SA legislation doesn't currently allow it, but they are planning on changing that.

Oh and don't try to DIY this...its dangerous for the line techs.
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I know of two people that do this already...but they might be doing it through their company's name rather than their personal capacity.
 
rsd said:
@Havoc - I know it's technically possible, but are you saying the substations and everything are already kitted out to handle it? What about the metering side of things?
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Let me try that again. It is illegal at the moment. The gov is planning to change that but they are not exactly moving with blinding speed on that front.
 
Venom Rush said:
I know of two people that do this already...but they might be doing it through their company's name rather than their personal capacity.
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Some of the mines are already feeding back into the grid afaik, but that under once-off special agreement with Eskom. The legal framework for households feeding back into the grid isn't there yet.
 
carudden said:
The numbers on the prepaid meter count upwards? That would be a sight to behold!
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Apparently it can be done DIY with older meters and you can indeed watch them run backwards!

Sounds like a bad idea though from what Havoc says.
 
HavocXphere said:
Let me try that again. It is illegal at the moment. The gov is planning to change that but they are not exactly moving with blinding speed on that front.
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I get the illegal part, I'm but let me try again too:
are you saying the substations and everything are already kitted out to handle it? What about the metering side of things?
Click to expand...
 
Let me try that again. It is illegal at the moment. The gov is planning to change that but they are not exactly moving with blinding speed on that front.
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Do you have some reading on the matter? I would like to familiarize myself with the law in this regard.

There are a lot of urban myths going about regarding "feeding" Eskom, I just want to know for 100% what is what regarding legislation.
 
HavocXphere said:
Some of the mines are already feeding back into the grid afaik, but that under once-off special agreement with Eskom. The legal framework for households feeding back into the grid isn't there yet.
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Ok, well I'll have to find out more from one of the guys doing it as he's feeding back into the grid from his house in Rondebosch, Cape Town.
 
Venom Rush said:
Ok, well I'll have to find out more from one of the guys doing it as he's feeding back into the grid from his house in [redacted].
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Wow, great friend you are ;)

Might want to edit the location out considering it is illegal.
 
HavocXphere said:
:)

The substations don't need any extra mods afaik. The gear to sync it with the grid gets installed into the house itself. That what they do in Europe...not sure whether that would work so well with our SA mentality.

http://www.treevolution.co.za/2008/09/sas-first-electricity-feed-in-system-being-tested/
http://www.nelsonmandelabay.gov.za/Content.aspx?objID=369
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Cool stuff, thanks for the links :)

I really hope it gets going soon, will make solar panels etc much more viable for me.
 
rsd said:
Cool stuff, thanks for the links :)

I really hope it gets going soon, will make solar panels etc much more viable for me.
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Few things beat Solar & feed back systems for coolness factor, but right now its not a good starting point if the aim is to save $$$.

For solar you pretty much have to use batteries in SA right now. And between the panels, batteries and converter you lose so much juice to inefficiencies that its pretty much pointless. Better to focus on geysers etc right now....specifically those with Evacuated tube collectors.
 
carudden said:
Is a rather large geographic area, hardly pointing to the criminal :)
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Fair enough - I live in that area and know of someone who does it. Cape Town is just a small place (in some respects) and I doubt there are many people doing this.
 
I would seriously look at setting up something to feed back if they made it worth while.

Though I doubt it will happen any time soon, lets hope I am wrong.
 
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