Solar Advice's basic off-grid solar power system prices compared

[Jan]

How much it costs to get solar power and say goodbye to Eskom

Going off-grid to escape the clutches of load-shedding is relatively expensive, with prices ranging from R172,420 to over R500,000.

The cost depends on household electricity usage and how many days the system must last without sunshine to recharge its batteries.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Why the obsession with off-grid instead of playing it safe with hybrid. You can still be "off-grid" with a hybrid inverter, but at least you're not leaving yourself with no other options.

What happens when there's a problem with a component? You're probably going to be without power for weeks until it's repaired/replaced...

 

[BuckRogers]

Can you realistically go off-grid with these systems.
Will they produce sufficient energy in winter.

 

[mypetcow]

Why the obsession with off-grid

I can only ask the same question.
What about a few days of rain…your battery will be flat then what? Fine so your heating and cooking is gas but about lights, charging your laptop, TV, router, etc.

Just stay grid tied and just reduce your consumption. Who cares about the R100 a month connection fee. It’s better than being stuck without power for days/weeks while an inverter is back for replacement/repair or your battery is flat. Those hybrid inverters are literally the best of both worlds.

Ask yourself this. Would you be happy to only be able to charge your cellphone from a power bank and a small solar panel for the next few years never being able to plug it into a wall charger or at a friends place? What if the power bank is flat and the sun isn’t shining and you need to charge your phone. Now scale this up to your house. For me staying connected to the grid is a no brainer even with loadshedding stage 8…

 

[kolakidd]

The obsession with off-grid is weird.

They're also missing leased systems, which despite a contract period have a much more accessible entry cost.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Who cares about the R100 a month connection fee.

For now, Eskom is planning to penalize people who are doing that by raising the availability fees substantially while lowering consumption fees to balance it out.
That is one of the reasons they are separating business units.

 

[TheChamp]

Can you realistically go off-grid with these systems.
Will they produce sufficient energy in winter.

Yes you can because it's all relative, I can probably go off grid with R150k while you may need R500k or more. It's not just about producing energy but also about storing, producing it is relatively cheap, it's the storage part that is a problem.

 

[air]

For us, 300 kWh(max!) in summer, Winter is a different beast, but would rather spend 30K on a closed combustion fireplace. Tumble drying(condenser) is the bugger, but seems pretty light and could put washing in close proximity to fireplace.

 

[Lupus]

Yes you can because it's all relative, I can probably go off grid with R150k while you may need R500k or more. It's not just about producing energy but also about storing, producing it is relatively cheap, it's the storage part that is a problem.

Yup I could go off grid for R150k as my usage is low, then I see people who seem to run sweat shops like 40 to 80 units a day, when I'm at 660 a month.

 

[Harmonic]

Also, a 3 phase connection on the garden route costs ~R900 p/m before you've used any power. Makes the trade off between off-grid and grid tied a little harder

 

[SauRoNZA]

For us, 300 kWh(max!) in summer, Winter is a different beast, but would rather spend 30K on a closed combustion fireplace. Tumble drying(condenser) is the bugger, but seems pretty light and could put washing in close proximity to fireplace.

To my surprise the tumble dryer which is an ancient 20+ year old unit isn’t nearly as bad as I expected.

A full 135-min cycle at high temperature is 5kW h but peak is actually quite low at 2kW making it quite easy to run on solar only with a bit of timing.

A more normal low temp rub is less than 3kW.

I’m sure a new unit would probably do half of that, especially the the heat pump varieties.

Oddly a device I almost never used on Eskom power which I now use quite liberally.

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

Why the obsession with off-grid instead of playing it safe with hybrid. You can still be "off-grid" with a hybrid inverter, but at least you're not leaving yourself with no other options.

What happens when there's a problem with a component? You're probably going to be without power for weeks until it's repaired/replaced...

Remember to pay your grid connection levy.

 

[AchmatK]

For now, Eskom is planning to penalize people who are doing that by raising the availability fees substantially while lowering consumption fees to balance it out.
That is one of the reasons they are separating business units.

So my neighbour has no solar will pay the same per kWh as me and also pay the high connection fee.

House A with solar
Connection fee: R500
Usage = 0kWh
Total electricity cost = R500

House B without solar
Connection fee: R500
Usage = 800kWh @ R2/kWh = R1 600
Total electricity cost = R2 100

Still seems cheaper to be grid tied. They will not be able to only charge a high connection fee to houses with solar. I can't see how this will work unless they have some fancy algorithm and reduce the connection fee the more electricity you use.

There isn't a connection fee that only applies to grid tied solar systems.

 

[Speedster]

So my neighbour has no solar will pay the same per kWh as me and also pay the high connection fee.

House A with solar
Connection fee: R500
Usage = 0kWh
Total electricity cost = R500

House B without solar
Connection fee: R500
Usage = 800kWh @ R2/kWh = R1 600
Total electricity cost = R2 100

Still seems cheaper to be grid tied. They will not be able to only charge a high connection fee to houses with solar. I can't see how this will work unless they have some fancy algorithm and reduce the connection fee the more electricity you use.

There isn't a connection fee that only applies to grid tied solar systems.

I wouldn't go grid tied for residential in SA. The loadshedding outlook just doesn't justify that route

 

[Speedster]

Also, a 3 phase connection on the garden route costs ~R900 p/m before you've used any power. Makes the trade off between off-grid and grid tied a little harder

View attachment 1343446

Why do you need 3 phase?

 

[Harmonic]

So my neighbour has no solar will pay the same per kWh as me and also pay the high connection fee.

House A with solar
Connection fee: R500
Usage = 0kWh
Total electricity cost = R500

House B without solar
Connection fee: R500
Usage = 800kWh @ R2/kWh = R1 600
Total electricity cost = R2 100

Still seems cheaper to be grid tied. They will not be able to only charge a high connection fee to houses with solar. I can't see how this will work unless they have some fancy algorithm and reduce the connection fee the more electricity you use.

There isn't a connection fee that only applies to grid tied solar systems.

Total electricity cost for house A is not R500 p/m. That figure has to include purchase, installation, maintenance and repairs of the solar system. As a bonus it needs to include the opportunity cost of tying up potentially R100-500k in an illiquid, depreciating "investment/asset". As an example R150k in a 6% p.a. account will net you R750 a month

 

[Harmonic]

Why do you need 3 phase?

Borehole pumps

 

[Rocket-Boy]

So my neighbour has no solar will pay the same per kWh as me and also pay the high connection fee.

House A with solar
Connection fee: R500
Usage = 0kWh
Total electricity cost = R500

House B without solar
Connection fee: R500
Usage = 800kWh @ R2/kWh = R1 600
Total electricity cost = R2 100

Still seems cheaper to be grid tied. They will not be able to only charge a high connection fee to houses with solar. I can't see how this will work unless they have some fancy algorithm and reduce the connection fee the more electricity you use.

There isn't a connection fee that only applies to grid tied solar systems.

You are missing the point, that is what it currently would be with a connection fee tacked on.
It is supposed to be along the lines of:
House A with solar
Connection fee: R700
Usage = 0kWh
Total electricity cost = R700

House B without solar
Connection fee: R700
Usage = 800kWh @ R1/kWh = R800
Total electricity cost = R1 500


But in this case House B isnt either financing R150k worth of system on top of that or hasnt paid R150k out of their savings.

Im not trying to argue with you in terms of what makes sense, I fully agree with you, what Im saying is that the government and municipalities arent interested in what benefits their citizens, they are interested in what benefits their budgets.
Eskom have clearly stated a few times that the days of getting cheap backup from the grid for solar users are coming to an end, that is their goal.
Im in the boat where I would need to finance a system and I have thought VERY hard about it, I have done tons of research and know exactly what I would spec. It would all work very well as things *currently* stand, but if the proposals that Eskom are making actually take place then I would have outlaid a bunch of money and would then have to outlay more to increase battery or generation capacity to go off grid. This all assumes that your municipality will even allow you to cancel your electricity connections, when they are losing money you can bet they find a way to get it back.

If you have a system already then great, you have to hope you dont get screwed.
If you are considering a system then there is a lot more than the basic cost to think about.

 

[BuckRogers]

Yup I could go off grid for R150k as my usage is low, then I see people who seem to run sweat shops like 40 to 80 units a day, when I'm at 660 a month.

So will a R150k system make 660 kwh in July in Cape Town. We literally don't see the sun for 10 days continuously.

 

[Speedster]

You are missing the point, that is what it currently would be with a connection fee tacked on.
It is supposed to be along the lines of:
House A with solar
Connection fee: R700
Usage = 0kWh
Total electricity cost = R700

House B without solar
Connection fee: R700
Usage = 800kWh @ R1/kWh = R800
Total electricity cost = R1 500


But in this case House B isnt either financing R150k worth of system on top of that or hasnt paid R150k out of their savings.

Im not trying to argue with you in terms of what makes sense, I fully agree with you, what Im saying is that the government and municipalities arent interested in what benefits their citizens, they are interested in what benefits their budgets.
Eskom have clearly stated a few times that the days of getting cheap backup from the grid for solar users are coming to an end, that is their goal.
Im in the boat where I would need to finance a system and I have thought VERY hard about it, I have done tons of research and know exactly what I would spec. It would all work very well as things *currently* stand, but if the proposals that Eskom are making actually take place then I would have outlaid a bunch of money and would then have to outlay more to increase battery or generation capacity to go off grid. This all assumes that your municipality will even allow you to cancel your electricity connections, when they are losing money you can bet they find a way to get it back.

If you have a system already then great, you have to hope you dont get screwed.
If you are considering a system then there is a lot more than the basic cost to think about.

Where can one get electricity at R1 per kWh