Full solar and backup power systems much more affordable than at the beginning of the year

no need to get a new DB board all fancy, with prices now just get a 12kw inverter you'll never go over that if you have normal appliances and a geyser on a timer to operate during the day, or even a solar geyser, even then you're 99.9% fine.

12kw Sunsynk + 15kw batteries = R100k
add panels, labour and wiring etc = R100k

So for R200k max you're off grid and don't ever need to hear from Eskom ever again
 
BBSA said:
The cable from the panels to the inverter, it was getting hot so I had to replace it with a thicker one.
Click to expand...
Ahhhh. I actually had the same issue. Had to explain to the installer about cable length/thickness and maxium amps per metre.

Other than that there is no maintenance to speak of. System just works. Battery technology also good enough to only start worrying about the batteries after about 8 or so years depending on usage.
 
ProfA said:
Ahhhh. I actually had the same issue. Had to explain to the installer about cable length/thickness and maxium amps per metre.

Other than that there is no maintenance to speak of. System just works. Battery technology also good enough to only start worrying about the batteries after about 8 or so years depending on usage.
Click to expand...
My Polytech should still have 80% capacity after 10 years.
 
BBSA said:
My Polytech should still be at 80% capacity after 10 years.
Click to expand...
Yeah. At the 10 year mark you should technically only be slightly down on capacity. That's about the worst of it. I have sunsynk batteries. Not the best but according to spec sheet, I should also be good for 10 years minimum before considering an upgrade to cope with lost capacity.
 
Tomtomtom said:
For us nerds there's the fun and novelty, even with loadshedding awol, it's still bringing joy.

But if you're normal and you have R 200k in your pocket do you still go for it now?
Click to expand...
Yep. I doubt that the prices that we see today will ever be repeated.
Tomtomtom said:
f you're actually doing maintenance you have nothing to worry about. It's the aunties who put an inverter in a dusty garage who have the problem. When that house changes hands in 5-10 years, the new owner is going to find the switch flicked to bypass and all the MOSFETs are blown. A whole new avenue for disputes the estate agents are going to get familiar with...
Click to expand...
There has always been that factor, I once looked at a home that was advertised as off-grid because it had a diesel generator on ATS, closer inspection revealed a rusty mess of nothing. So always verify and test, as you would with the roof, foundations, cracks etc.
Wrath of Khan MD said:
every now and then I look at it and might dust it... :ROFL:
Click to expand...
Dusty garage gets dusty. :X3:
 
wingnut771 said:
What do you do now, just sit in the dark and pretend its the 18th century?
Click to expand...

Don't know if I'm missing the joke maybe but my inverter has done nothing for 7 months, except once it kept the lights on during ordinary substation maintenance. I'd rather mothball it and keep the battery at 50% until loadshedding starts up again.

I'm glad I had it last year and it paid for itself just in that time, but a system 10 times the price, I'm not sure.

At the peak of loadshedding I saw people on this forum saying it's not about the economics, there's no ROI in self-generation, it's about freedom from powercuts. So surely, many of those people must be wondering if it was worth it now... but I'm not surprised they're not jumping to say so.
 
Last edited:
Thorium said:
Yep. I doubt that the prices that we see today will ever be repeated.
Click to expand...

Solar panels maybe. They're insanely cheap. And if you really do believe that you should be stockpiling them... which I'm considering.

But batteries... I reckon if they don't get 10x cheaper over the next few years, we're going to have a real problem achieving the whole net-zero-carbon thing. They're stupidly expensive. I have a ~10 kWh battery in my roof called a geyser and it cost R 4k. That's about where batteries need to be before I'd call them cheap.
 
Last edited:
Thorium said:
There has always been that factor, I once looked at a home that was advertised as off-grid because it had a diesel generator on ATS, closer inspection revealed a rusty mess of nothing. So always verify and test, as you would with the roof, foundations, cracks etc.

Dusty garage gets dusty. :X3:
Click to expand...

Yes and this is also why people shouldn't assume the investment will be returned 100% in an increased house price. Buyers discount these systems precisely because they can't verify and test completely for latent defects.
 
Wrath of Khan MD said:
no need to get a new DB board all fancy, with prices now just get a 12kw inverter you'll never go over that if you have normal appliances and a geyser on a timer to operate during the day, or even a solar geyser, even then you're 99.9% fine.

12kw Sunsynk + 15kw batteries = R100k
add panels, labour and wiring etc = R100k

So for R200k max you're off grid and don't ever need to hear from Eskom ever again
Click to expand...
With this setup,are you able to run a AC during the night?

Right now, my AC'S and pool pump is killing my electricity bill.

Stove and geyser are gas
 
marhsava said:
With this setup,are you able to run a AC during the night?

Right now, my AC'S and pool pump is killing my electricity bill.

Stove and geyser are gas
Click to expand...

depends on the size and effiency of your aircon.
My samsung 12000btu aircon only pulls just over 1000w

My pool pump I literally run for a few hours about once every 3 or so days, small pool but still you don't need to run them every single day 24/7 (my neighbour does that!)
 
marhsava said:
With this setup,are you able to run a AC during the night?

Right now, my AC'S and pool pump is killing my electricity bill.

Stove and geyser are gas
Click to expand...
Would add another 5kw battery for 20kw of storage. 12k btu inverter aircon should be able to run through the night with other essentials no problem.
 
marhsava said:
With this setup,are you able to run a AC during the night?

Right now, my AC'S and pool pump is killing my electricity bill.

Stove and geyser are gas
Click to expand...
I have same capacity and one of kids sometimes runs aircon through the night, inverter one and usually sun picks up early so batteries are not depeted completely.
Pool pump is usually 3 hours a day, I aim that I enter around 15:30 with my batteries almost at 100%.

I'm planning to add 4 more panels to west side just to extend sun hours.
 
aleksandar said:
I have same capacity and one of kids sometimes runs aircon through the night, inverter one and usually sun picks up early so batteries are not depeted completely.
Pool pump is usually 3 hours a day, I aim that I enter around 15:30 with my batteries almost at 100%.

I'm planning to add 4 more panels to west side just to extend sun hours.
Click to expand...
Your pool pump should be running more than 3 hours, unless you've oversized your pump
 
Tomtomtom said:
Don't know if I'm missing the joke maybe but my inverter has done nothing for 7 months, except once it kept the lights on during ordinary substation maintenance. I'd rather mothball it and keep the battery at 50% until loadshedding starts up again.

I'm glad I had it last year and it paid for itself just in that time, but a system 10 times the price, I'm not sure.

At the peak of loadshedding I saw people on this forum saying it's not about the economics, there's no ROI in self-generation, it's about freedom from powercuts. So surely, many of those people must be wondering if it was worth it now... but I'm not surprised they're not jumping to say so.
Click to expand...
Don't know if you're living under a rock or anything but there are a lot of places where the power goes off randomly all the time nevermind the double digit annual price increases.

R200K! Who needs that? 5kW inverter with 6.5kWp solar and 15kWh battery = R66k.
1731425240208.png1731425275190.png1731425315404.png
 
Just going to put this here - any solar savings are tax-inclusive IE: remember you pay Eskom with post-tax salary/savings. If you have savings to spend and you can get as close to 99% off-grid, then you must remember to account for the fact that any money you would have paid to Eskom, would be tax included on top of any tariff increases.
 
marhsava said:
With this setup,are you able to run a AC during the night?

Right now, my AC'S and pool pump is killing my electricity bill.

Stove and geyser are gas
Click to expand...
So as it happens my son was running aircon through the night.
Got batteries to 22% with other morning activities before sun picked up.
Through the night consumption was oscillating between 500w and 900w.
Still 0 eskom import this month.

1731474496374.png
 
People are always commenting on the costs of solar...100k to 200k, its ALOT!!!!
Then go buy a golf 8 GTI for 1 Million and payback almost 2 Million. While at year 5 of ownership the 8GTI is will be worth 5OOK.

Same people purchase the top spec Samsung device and Apple device for nearly 40K.
or a OLED tv for FOR 50K.

Some people's logic is completely broken.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter