GoSolr vs Solar

Dolby said:
$$$

Can't dot it right now

This is already R60k I don't want to spend
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60k will work for the essentials, so you might need to start limiting things running on it, especially if it's only a 2.5kw/h battery. The nice thing is during the day you could run off the sun and charge the batteries.
 
Lupus said:
60k will work for the essentials, so you might need to start limiting things running on it, especially if it's only a 2.5kw/h battery. The nice thing is during the day you could run off the sun and charge the batteries.
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Eish... Still with the kW/h stuff.

Most times getting the units wrong isn't an issue as the context indicates what one is referring to. The one area it does get confusing though is with batteries. For example, I have a 9.6kWh pylontech battery stack. These batteries are 0.5C and can thus deliver a max of 4.8kW. Differentiating between kW and kWh makes all the difference here. And then obviously kW/h doesn't even exist.
 
Dolby said:
So I thought about this as well - but the cost of inverter to run me for 20-30hrs would probably be pretty high? I guess?

Probably close to the R60k for an inverter that size?

And I think with the R60k , I’ll probably save on my Eskom bill - even if only R500pm?

But I think I’m going to go this route . It can be done hopefully in the next 2 weeks
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The inverter has nothing to do with how long you can run, just what loads you can run.

And the price disparity between the smaller inverter sizes is actually very big.

You could do an off grid style inverter for much less money but then you’d need to replace it if you wanted to do solar in future.

A Sunsynk 5kW is around 28k and then you add a 5.2kWh battery to that for another 25k.

On the flipside sticking with Victron if you choose not to do Solar because it’s so modular you immediately drop the price on your existing quote as there aren’t any MPPT’s required and then you could just upsize the inverter module itself meaning you can run geyser or oven through it as well if necessary.

Victron is the most expensive though…so if you are in the game of saving money it’s probably not the right answer.

You may consider the likes of Luxpower or some such instead.

In your shoes I’d probably put in the Sunsynk 5kW Inverter + Sunsynk 5.2 kW battery for your money.

That way you not only get a 10-year warranty across both products, you now have an upgrade path to add a second 5kW inverter in future to parallel (I did an 8kW and regret not doing 2 x 5kW instead) and then add batteries and solar as you need without anything additional required.
 
Dolby said:
So the other thing is that I don’t plan to be in house on 3 years . This is a ‘quick fix’ for me.
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It seems cost that you will pay install, rental, uninstall is going to be more than R60k over that period of time so again I would go with straight (R60k) install especially if house is yours since it will add bit of value when you decide to sell.
 
Dolby said:
This is already R60k I don't want to spend
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Then why not spend even less?

You could get a trolley with a couple of panels for ~R 20k.

For example the Kool Energy / Mecer SOL-I-BB-M1L does 1 kW / 1.2 kWh, and takes ~800 W of panels.

That's all you need for the routers, PC, TV, lights and a fridge.
 
Dolby said:
So the other thing is that I don’t plan to be in house on 3 years . This is a ‘quick fix’ for me.
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It's going to cost R1600 a month for 3 years, not sure what the uninstallation cost is. If you want to keep it you pay insane price of R160k
 
Tomtomtom said:
You could get a trolley with a couple of panels for ~R 20k
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Yea it seems the inverter + panels are going to be around R24k ex installation ... of maybe R6k ?

So yea, half the price
 
Kosmik said:
? What you choose?
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Buy my own smaller system - for these reasons, which may or may not be valid :

  • From limited research, Victron/Polytek seem better than Deye/Hubble in terms of efficiency, reliability, support etc . Not that Deye/Hubble are bad - but in conjunction with the below point, it was compelling.
  • I'm getting about R20k+ saving on the equipment purchased
  • I'm not sure where I'll be in 3 years
  • And I haven't had time to read the GoSolr thread, but Google review average is 2.9/5 on the company
  • GoSolar hasn't replied as of a few days ago - yet I made payment for my own equipment which arrives tomorrow

Bolded points being the main reason
 
What I did learn though, is that solar is not as expensive as I thought .

I've always thought even a small system you'd be looking at R120k+ and that was really your entry point.

Someone gave a WebAfrica deal which is also about R60,000, so it seems that you can get started for that price.
 
I'm looking at one negative review and although the rating was due to unrealistic expectations of paying nothing to Eskom, what do they mean forced to take a bi-direction meter ? Insurance is a good point - so the cost of the rental is about R2kpm

As a small consumption household going solar works out way too expensive, our electricity bill was R1800pm, now we pay about R500 to eskom , R1740pm to Gosolar, there are other charges involved like getting a bi-direction meter R6500 in my case and you are forced to insure the system at roughly R290pm so all in all now we paying R2530pm and Eskom is proposing a fixed charge of R938pm for all electricity users even if your consumption is zero which will take my monthly payment to just under R3000.
 
Dolby said:
I'm looking at one negative review and although the rating was due to unrealistic expectations of paying nothing to Eskom, what do they mean forced to take a bi-direction meter ? Insurance is a good point - so the cost of the rental is about R2kpm

As a small consumption household going solar works out way too expensive, our electricity bill was R1800pm, now we pay about R500 to eskom , R1740pm to Gosolar, there are other charges involved like getting a bi-direction meter R6500 in my case and you are forced to insure the system at roughly R290pm so all in all now we paying R2530pm and Eskom is proposing a fixed charge of R938pm for all electricity users even if your consumption is zero which will take my monthly payment to just under R3000.
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Depends on municipality. Some force you to install a new meter which is a once off of R6.5k. Regardless however, to be compliant with the muni, a person would have had to anyway, same with insurance. You are asked to add the equipment to your home insurance vs taking out insurance with them, that's not unreasonable as again, you would need to have insurance anyway unless you are a fool.

The fixed tarrif depends on your elec supplier but all of this makes no difference between gosolr, private or any other system.
 
Kosmik said:
Depends on municipality. Some force you to install a new meter which is a once off of R6.5k. Regardless however, to be compliant with the muni, a person would have had to anyway, same with insurance. You are asked to add the equipment to your home insurance vs taking out insurance with them, that's not unreasonable as again, you would need to have insurance anyway unless you are a fool.

The fixed tarrif depends on your elec supplier but all of this makes no difference between gosolr, private or any other system.
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What I mean is the hidden costs pushing up that monthly cost, is more of reason to buy.
 
Dolby said:
What I mean is the hidden costs pushing up that monthly cost, is more of reason to buy.
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My insurance went up like R40pm the other hidden costs are if you want to push back.
 
Dolby said:
What I mean is the hidden costs pushing up that monthly cost, is more of reason to buy.
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Its actually not hidden. They disclose it quite clearly when you do the application, people are just too **** up to read. But my point is, you are in for those costs, regardless of what solution you take.

A person can choose not to insure, you can choose not to be muni compliant and receive massive fines if they do, same with the fixed cost.
 
Kosmik said:
Its actually not hidden. They disclose it quite clearly when you do the application, people are just too **** up to read. But my point is, you are in for those costs, regardless of what solution you take.

A person can choose not to insure, you can choose not to be muni compliant and receive massive fines if they do, same with the fixed cost.
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I understand - but based on the review, you're forced

What I'm saying saying is that are the start of the thread, I was comparing costs of buying vs renting - and using R1740pm as rental cost isn't true if you are forced to take out insurance as well (according to the review) - bringing the cost to over R2,000.00. Therefore, that'd be the better figure to use in order to compare the costs.

To me, it's not a fully exposed cost - I can't even see it on the page.

I don't care about paying it - but rather than use R1,740 x 36 - I should use R2,030 x 36 - which is another R10,000 over a 3 year term

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Dolby said:
I understand - but based on the review, you're forced

What I'm saying saying is that are the start of the thread, I was comparing costs of buying vs renting - and using R1740pm as rental cost isn't true if you are forced to take out insurance as well (according to the review) - bringing the cost to over R2,000.00. Therefore, that'd be the better figure to use in order to compare the costs.

To me, it's not a fully exposed cost - I can't even see it on the page.

I don't care about paying it - but rather than use R1,740 x 36 - I should use R2,030 x 36 - which is another R10,000 over a 3 year term

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Insurance is cheap, like R50 a month on your building insurance.

But yeah with renting you won't ever own the equipment until you buy it from them, you're just shifting your electricity expenditure away from Eskom to them...
 
@Dolby I dunno if I would say forced. The onus is basically on you, if its not insured and its damaged or stolen, you are still liable for the kit. Same with a rental car etc. Also same if you owned it, you would still want to insure it. And they don't force their insurance, its between you and your HOC so as others have said, R50 odd or depending.

And yes, you shift your expenditure to them but you avoid the rampant escalation of eskom as well as any maintenace costs or issues. I spoke to a couple of the sparkies who came for the installation, some people have ridiculous expectations of what solar can do for them. One chap apparently tried to run a coffee shop with 8 machines and wondered why his 5KVA inverter refused.

For comparison sure, keep them in mind but then also add it to the R60k one as well, its no different. To me its part of the whole solar shift but I don't see it as part of the equation of rental vs purchase.

Also when you apply there is quite a detailed process and they advise you of the local bylaws and restrictions once you pinpoint your home.
 
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