Going completely off-grid is the cheapest it's ever been (but still expensive)

Jan

Jan

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Can say they down alot from last year, we would buy a Sunsynk 5.32Kwh for apro R28K now its R25k inc vat
Best i have had panels at is R1550 for JA 550W R2.80 Per Watt
 
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I actually get angry these days at people who still complain but have/had the means to make a plan.
Seeing the prices of a good quality inverter and battery right now makes me weep when I think about what I had to pay.

If you tucked away just 300 bucks a month since the k*k started hitting the fan in 2007 you could have a decent 5kWh starter system by now.
 
I hate to be that guy but the calculations on the system specifications table does not look accurate.
You cannot multiply the battery capacity with the amount of batteries you have, you should not discharge below 10%/15%/20%.
Also you cannot multiply the solar panel rated power with the amount of panels you have. You need to account for losses.
 
Jan said:
It is currently one of the most affordable times to buy a solar and backup battery system in South Africa.
Click to expand...

It used to be even cheaper when we didn't have to pay extra for corruption an incompetence amongst BEE workers and government officials responsible for energy..
 
Solar panels have dropped a lot in the last year
550 Watt mono panel for under 2 grand
shop.thesunpays.co.za

550W Mono Powitt 10BB Solar Panel

Specification highlights: 550W Monocrystalline PV panel. 10 Busbar design. 144 A-grade monocrystalline solar cells. With a 12-year product warranty and a 30-year design life warranty. Certifications include: German (TUV) certified, IEC, and CE Electrical specifications @ STC: Maximum...
shop.thesunpays.co.za shop.thesunpays.co.za
 
grok said:
It used to be even cheaper when we didn't have to pay extra for corruption an incompetence amongst BEE workers and government officials responsible for energy..
Click to expand...
Yes, I also miss the Old SA....
 
So, to summerise the article:

“Everyone who can afford Solar has installed Solar.

It's now cheaper than ever.

Sucker's!"

Am I basically on point?
 
Add a solar and/or gas geyser, gas stove and you won't need 10kw peak output or 8 batteries.
 
RaptorSA said:
I actually get angry these days at people who still complain but have/had the means to make a plan.
Seeing the prices of a good quality inverter and battery right now makes me weep when I think about what I had to pay.

If you tucked away just 300 bucks a month since the k*k started hitting the fan in 2007 you could have a decent 5kWh starter system by now.
Click to expand...
People wouldn't have stuck money away from 2007 for LS, considering that it stopped for many years, started again briefly in 2015 and stopped again till mid 2018. If they'd stuck money away from 2018 they would probably have a decent setup.
 
Mine is the first option roughly, though I only have 1 5kw inverter and 8x540w panels, plus only a 7.5kva (6.5kw) gennie. On cloudy days like today I am bouncing off City Power as my batteries were just over 50% from last night and I'd prefer to go into LS at 12pm with a bit more of the max 1200w my panels have been generating.
I did manage to survive 17 days without City Power in December, also have gas 2 plate stove for cooking, and the generator was used to top up batteries and warm the geyser. For my geyser we'd only need to run the generator about an hour and there was only 1 day where I ran the generator for 4 hours to get batteries sufficiently topped up for the day ahead.
Fuel isn't cheap so you shouldn't really rely on the generator too much honestly. Like for the roughly 20 or so hours I ran the generator over that almost 3 weeks it was about R600 of fuel, which is my monthly usage from Eskom for geyser and cooking + like this last week running a bit more on CP.
 
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