Power inverters for home use in South Africa roundup - February 2023

Jan

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Best inverters for beating load-shedding

South Africans looking for a capable home backup power system should take great care when choosing an inverter.

While batteries and solar panels tend to be more flexible in terms of upgrades down the line, inverters can run into big compatibility problems that might require replacing them altogether when upgrading.
 
Victron seems like the best value for money here, even when up to ~R1000 more per kW.
With Victron you still need to factor in the price of MPTT's. They do have a line of "EasySolar II GX" models with integrated MPTT and controller, but the others are all without, so you need to know what to get here. The Multiplus II they pictured in the article do not include an MPTT.
 
Seeing prices now, I'm thankful I made my Victron and Pylontech purchase last June (of course would've been even better the year or two prior but I had other expenses to attend to).

I'll be looking into charging with Solar later this year, but panels are understandably a bit dry at the moment from what I heard.
 
Seeing prices now, I'm thankful I made my Victron and Pylontech purchase last June (of course would've been even better the year or two prior but I had other expenses to attend to).

I'll be looking into charging with Solar later this year, but panels are understandably a bit dry at the moment from what I heard.

True

Jan last year I paid R18K for 24V100AH LFP, 3KW inverter + 2 x 9A panels
Now I'm lucky if I can get the battery for that price.
 
SunSynk 8k (Inc VAT)
Sep 2021 - R30,788 - $/R14.40 (approx rate)
Feb 2022 - R41,262 - $/R18.40 (approx rate)

Seems prices went up mostly due to exchange rate.
Just imagine the exchange rate if we had functioning railway lines.
 
Is efficiency and the life of the inverter calculated into the cost also?

Quality on the cheapest units is not close to something like a Victron so doubt they would have the same lifespan.
 
SunSynk 8k (Inc VAT)
Sep 2021 - R30,788 - $/R14.40 (approx rate)
Feb 2022 - R41,262 - $/R18.40 (approx rate)

Seems prices went up mostly due to exchange rate.
Yes just checked i paid R32k for an 8k Sunsynk in Nov21
 
Now we need an article on MyBroadBand that shows running a 5 kW generator vs the cost of installing 5 kW solar, to show that people should stop running those expensive generators since they could have already paid off X amount of their solar installation in Y months since loadshedding got out of hand. ;-)
 
Now we need an article on MyBroadBand that shows running a 5 kW generator vs the cost of installing 5 kW solar, to show that people should stop running those expensive generators since they could have already paid off X amount of their solar installation in Y months since loadshedding got out of hand. ;-)
or running a generator vs paying eskom.
 
Is efficiency and the life of the inverter calculated into the cost also?

Quality on the cheapest units is not close to something like a Victron so doubt they would have the same lifespan.
On this point, I have no real love for victron, but their warranty/guarantee(?) follows the product, not the owner..
 
My 2c go for the Victron you will not be sorry, go for the 5kw Multiplus II as it can be paralleled and has built in anti-islanding. For the MPPT if you want lots of expansion room or have lots of roof faces 450/200 MPPT with 4 trackers is a beast.
 
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