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

felixbf said:
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.
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Can't brag with solar at local tavern/mugg and bean.
 
felixbf said:
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.
Click to expand...

This has always been my point. I never get it. Holidays for 150k alcohol budget 6k but 170k
For solar is outrageous. I am saying if you never complain about these kids of expenditures then solar system is just one more toy you can brag about. But this one has the added advantage of saving you some cash and convenience when there is power outages.
 
felixbf said:
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.
Click to expand...
Very few buy the phones for that price, they go on contracts.
 
im curious to know if theres a difference in price between rooftop panels vs panels you would set up on a frame/array on the ground.

My understanding is that rooftop is more expensive because of size to generation. But for rural settings is it worth it to set up a non rooftop array ?

Any one here that can provide more info?

TIA
 
wingnut771 said:
R200K! Who needs that? 5kW inverter with 6.5kWp solar and 15kWh battery = R66k.
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To be fair the article is about going off-grid / kissing Eskom goodbye / Warning for taxpayers in SA whoops sorry that's a different one.

In any case you know it's not R 66k installed. I don't see the CoCT registration in the cart for one thing.

wingnut771 said:
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.
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Obviously if you do live under a rock / in a place where the power goes off all the time, it's a different calculation. But I don't, and I think I'm fairly representative of people who have (or rather had) the money to blow on large systems.

As for the increases, I think they'll need to do more like 200-500% before own-generation becomes viable for me. But we'll see. If batteries get 5-10x cheaper it'll be a different story.
 
ShloshMalosh said:
im curious to know if theres a difference in price between rooftop panels vs panels you would set up on a frame/array on the ground.

My understanding is that rooftop is more expensive because of size to generation. But for rural settings is it worth it to set up a non rooftop array ?

Any one here that can provide more info?

TIA
Click to expand...
The panels are the same, whether you put them up on a roof or or any other structure.

Unless you already have a structure, rooftop makes all the sense in the world because it is already there, unlike having to build another structure to put the panels on, which is an extra cost.
 
ShloshMalosh said:
im curious to know if theres a difference in price between rooftop panels vs panels you would set up on a frame/array on the ground.
Click to expand...

With panels so cheap your ground mount framework is probably going to make it more expensive than putting on a roof.

But if you don't have suitable roof space or aspect and do have plenty of ground like that one Bishopscourts property where'd they'd converted their tennis court into a solar plant, then ja go for it.
 
Tomtomtom said:
As for the increases, I think they'll need to do more like 200-500% before own-generation becomes viable for me. But we'll see. If batteries get 5-10x cheaper it'll be a different story.
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Have you done the calculations or is this just your opinion?

Solar plus batteries are already cheaper than any eskom or municipal electricity rates.
 
AchmatK said:
Solar plus batteries are already cheaper than any eskom or municipal electricity rates.
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I'm not sure even what this means. Aren't you in finance? Does it make sense to you?

Being a wide range, 200-500% is obviously a guesstimate not a model output.

Given my actual consumption, time horizon, risk appetite, opportunity cost, etc. I'm pretty confident I'm not going to have a rational economic reason to do a whole-house install at today's cost until kWh rates have increased by something like that order of magnitude. Am I being unreasonable?
 
AchmatK said:
Have you done the calculations or is this just your opinion?

Solar plus batteries are already cheaper than any eskom or municipal electricity rates.
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My R170k system already saves me around R3000+ per month. If there are zero increases in tariffs it will take me under 5 years to recoup the cost. That then leaves me with at least another 5 years before I have to start re-investing in new batteries. It's a win-win-win all the way.
 
Tomtomtom said:
I'm not sure even what this means. Aren't you in finance? Does it make sense to you?

Being a wide range, 200-500% is obviously a guesstimate not a model output.

Given my actual consumption, time horizon, risk appetite, opportunity cost, etc. I'm pretty confident I'm not going to have a rational economic reason to do a whole-house install at today's cost until kWh rates have increased by something like that order of magnitude. Am I being unreasonable?
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How much are you consuming currently?

Is this likely to remain the same over the next 5 to 10 years.

How much are you paying eskom or the municipality every month now?

How much will this be in 5 years from now?

What will the total be that you'll be paying eskom or municipalities over the next 5 to 10 years.

What growth rate can you expect if you take that cash and save it or invested it?

This is how much electricity I've generated over the last 51 months.

Screenshot_20241113_130304_SOLARMAN%20Smart.jpg

Over 56 000kWh. Over R180k of electricity generated by the sun at coct electricity prices at the time of generation.

Virtually zero maintenance costs over that period.
 
Well people opposed to solar always assume the circumstances are the same for everyone. My household electricity consumption was so high that with progressive billing it was next to impossible. Even with Cape Town winters saving an average of 50% accounting for time value of money using an interest rate of 8%. If you are using barely any electricity above indigent levels solar is not worth it. Even then it is a choice if you can afford it why not? Work from home, get some funds back for utilities, have a flat get some funds back from relatives in the flat. Solar is a win -win and then also I have protection against power outages or load shedding should it have come back. To add to the fun I get to see really interesting looking graphs. My summer production is so much I am considering an EV or a plug in hybrid for my next car.
 
If you’re able to add solar panels, just go ahead and add them, with panels, this is the only way this makes sense, especially now that there’s no load shedding
 
Tomtomtom said:
To be fair the article is about going off-grid / kissing Eskom goodbye / Warning for taxpayers in SA whoops sorry that's a different one.

In any case you know it's not R 66k installed. I don't see the CoCT registration in the cart for one thing.



Obviously if you do live under a rock / in a place where the power goes off all the time, it's a different calculation. But I don't, and I think I'm fairly representative of people who have (or rather had) the money to blow on large systems.

As for the increases, I think they'll need to do more like 200-500% before own-generation becomes viable for me. But we'll see. If batteries get 5-10x cheaper it'll be a different story.
Click to expand...
What do you suggest I do about this?
IMG_5259.png
 
From the article: "We found that a fully off-grid entry-level system that could supply a household with a 450kWh average monthly consumption would cost about R173,019."

But if I'm on their calculator and enter the same numbers, I get to a monthly production of 1126kWh. Someone didn't do a proper job here. I know because I spent a lot of time on their calculator in the past few weeks.

Finally, their calculator is bugged. Between the online calculator and the quotes received, their calculator comes up cheaper than the actual quotes. Not by much, but a little, and that's because the calculator doesn't account for the panel installation hardware when adding panels. I confirmed this with them, so keep that in mind.

That being said, you can easily take a medium home completely off-grid with R170k. I'm doing it in December. 18 x 555W panels, 8kW Deye inverter and 4 x 5.12kWh Dyness batteries, installed and ready to go, with a generator (existing) as backup.
 
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