Going Off-Grid

[ADrunkTeddyBear]

Grid feed in...is that when you have the old spinning meter and any excess solar turns the meter back?

What happens when the council read the meter and its negative compared to the month before?

The municipality/eskom will start an audit on you and make you pay for the power you sent back to the grid, they will then hand you a fine and then change your meter to the newer ones that cant send power back to the grid (this last part is for everywhere excl CPT).

 

[semaphore]

I’ll rather run 1000 watts of metal halide lights than give shitty power anything.

 

[Tacet]

Nah its fine. My address isnt there luckily lol.

Having an old spinning meter is like having gold now days

Just make very sure of the meter. Some of the spinning ones will spin on happily if you push power back, effectively making your push back look like consumption from the metering PoV. Others spin back, and those are ones worth gold.

 

[DuracellBunny]

Grid feed in...is that when you have the old spinning meter and any excess solar turns the meter back?

What happens when the council read the meter and its negative compared to the month before?

Would assume you be screwed then and they would try to get back money from you

Edit - Yah you get sheeted on. Dont take a chance get caught lol https://www.news24.com/news24/south...icity-meter-has-to-pay-back-r750-000-20200815

 

[Weable Technology]

Question, why completely Off-Grid?
Is that just something you have heard?
On paper it does sounds nice, but the costs involved could be huge.
Why not rather look at a Hybrid system?
This means part of your house is on backup power, like lights and plugs.
Parts of your house still benefit from solar power, like stove, geyser and air-conditioners.
This type of system, if done correctly, does not require such a huge capital outlay, will reduce your electrical bill significantly and also offer you backup power during load-shedding.
It is a win win

It all depends on your ROI. If you are willing to wait for an extended period to pay off your system then you can go for an off-grid system and be completely disconnected from the grid. We usually recommend off-grid systems to people who stay in remote areas with no grid connection.

We highly suggest a hybrid setup to all our customers as it's cost-effective and will offer you the greatest ROI and is easily scalable to your needs as they grow. With a hybrid system, you also have the option to feedback to the grid if you stay in a city that allows it such as CPT.

 

[Snyper564]

Question, why completely Off-Grid?
Is that just something you have heard?
On paper it does sounds nice, but the costs involved could be huge.
Why not rather look at a Hybrid system?
This means part of your house is on backup power, like lights and plugs.
Parts of your house still benefit from solar power, like stove, geyser and air-conditioners.
This type of system, if done correctly, does not require such a huge capital outlay, will reduce your electrical bill significantly and also offer you backup power during load-shedding.
It is a win win

My system was never meant to "go off grid" but I can - Only time I need eskom is consecutive heavy rain over cast days, but not aiming for 100% off grid.

The difference between off grid and some reliance on eskom is another 2-3 more batteries for me

 

[RiaX]

So I have a prepaid meter. I switched because the billing system was all wonky and I didnt want one of those 100k bills. Now Im in the process of getting quotes for solar. The guy said you get like 70c or something if you feed the grid. You think it be worth it to revert back to a billing system over prepaid ?

what should I do with surplus generation if there is any?

Thoughts?

 

[wingnut771]

So I have a prepaid meter. I switched because the billing system was all wonky and I didnt want one of those 100k bills. Now Im in the process of getting quotes for solar. The guy said you get like 70c or something if you feed the grid. You think it be worth it to revert back to a billing system over prepaid ?

what should I do with surplus generation if there is any?

Thoughts?

What city is this?

 

[RiaX]

What city is this?

Dbn. Ya I was shocked I was whaaat. I don't know if he's BSing me

 

[wingnut771]

Dbn. Ya I was shocked I was whaaat. I don't know if he's BSing me

I'm in dbn also, there is a trial I heard but I'm not sure the outcome, also of the number of hoops that one would need to jump through. Also, I don't think you can make money from it but am basing that theory on cape town. I would much rather keep my spinning disk meter and just keep battery storage for the rolling blackouts and use the grid as my battery and turn the meter backwards during sunny days creating a "credit" for the hot humid nights and bad days.

But seeing you're pay-as-you-go already, out of interest, why don't you be our Guinea pig and trial it for us as this is the way to go imho.

It would be a very interesting thread to follow.

 

[RiaX]

I'm in dbn also, there is a trial I heard but I'm not sure the outcome, also of the number of hoops that one would need to jump through. Also, I don't think you can make money from it but am basing that theory on cape town. I would much rather keep my spinning disk meter and just keep battery storage for the rolling blackouts and use the grid as my battery and turn the meter backwards during sunny days creating a "credit" for the hot humid nights and bad days.

But seeing you're pay-as-you-go already, out of interest, why don't you be our Guinea pig and trial it for us as this is the way to go imho.

It would be a very interesting thread to follow.

Ya np I'll be the test subject. Let me see what the guys have to say. I'm still early in the process. I really don't have the energy to jump through hoops to get my meter back

 

[RonSwanson]

So I have a prepaid meter. I switched because the billing system was all wonky and I didnt want one of those 100k bills. Now Im in the process of getting quotes for solar. The guy said you get like 70c or something if you feed the grid. You think it be worth it to revert back to a billing system over prepaid ?

what should I do with surplus generation if there is any?

Thoughts?

Make very, very sure of the facts, and the costs involved. Cape Town's feed-in model has a huge upfront cost for a feed-in meter, and the pittance that it pays does not make it worthwhile. And at the rate at which people are installing self-generation, there will soon be a glut when the sun shines and nothing in the evening, creating grid instability. In August this year, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) passed a rule to actually charge those with grid feed-in, a so-called "solar tax".
IMHO it's simply not worth it, rather charge your electric car.

 

[RonSwanson]

General use scenario:
==============
The mid-range model has a 58 kWh battery pack. It claims to be able to do 402 km on that, but of course we know how optimistic they are, so let's work with 350 km (thus 6km / kWh). You travel 60 km on average per day, so that is roughly 10 kWh that you'll need per day for your car.

To charge that to full from empty during the night, you'll need about 3 of the 100 Ah, 48 V batteries. To charge your intermediary batteries or if you can charge the car in the day, you'll need about 5 of the 350 W solar panels*.

From flat to full:
===========
To charge that to full from empty during the night, you'll need about 13 of the 100 Ah, 48 V batteries. That is a pretty expensive battery bank just to charge the vehicle. Then you'll need solar panels to charge your 13 batteries.

If you can manage to do the charging in the day, you'll need roughly 27 of the 350 W solar panels, dedicated to charging the car*.

General:
======
Some perspective: my house (unmarried, no kids) use on average 10 kWh per day. The ID3's battery is 5 times that. So you can design a pretty cost effective system based on your general use patterns, but for a charge from empty to full you'll probably want to use Eskom.

* Assumptions have been made, e.g. 6 hours of good sun per day, no system losses, 100% charge & discharge efficiency.

I have over 6kWp on my roof, my 10.5kW storage is usually down to between 50 and 60% when the MPPT kicks in in the morning. This gets charged before 09H30 on a good day. My heat-pump then starts, and the dishwasher, oven and washing machine are my only heavy appliances. I waste a huge amount of energy most days which I could use to charge an electric vehicle.
I work from home, so I will charge it when the sun shines. The great thing with charging batteries is that it does not necessarily need a specific rate, as long as its under the maximum charge rate, so if I charge at 1 amp or 50 amps, it's still charging. This means that I can give it a lower priority to the home's loads, and it will "mop-up" all the power that would get wasted in anycase. I might even consider installing a pre-emptive public charger outside, so that anyone in my complex can bring their vehicle to charge on good days.