Solar installers and suppliers

[Speedster]

Where do I buy a proper Sunsynk or similar 8kw inverter plus an ekstra 5 kw battery for just R9000 more than a 5 kw system?

About R9 000 without the panels


The inverter might not care but a geyser spikes your load every 2 hours playing havoc with your load management. Much cheaper and easier to put in a separate PV system for that. In any case, I do not have a shortage of roof space.
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You don't need an extra battery, just a R200 timer for the geyser to run during the day. The rest of the R9k gets you 1.2kWish of panels which produces 7.2kWh per day which is more than the geyser will use.

Also, where'd you get the geyserwise kit for R9k? They're about double that from what I could see

Edit: didn't see you quoted without the panels. So actual cost is R18k, which gives you a very nice bump on your solar system

 

[Stonemason]

You don't need an extra battery, just a R200 timer for the geyser to run during the day. The rest of the R9k gets you 1.2kWish of panels which produces 7.2kWh per day which is more than the geyser will use.

Also, where'd you get the geyserwise kit for R9k? They're about double that from what I could see

R9 000 for this kit and R8 400 for two JA 540 solar panels.

If you heat a geyser with a normal element to 60 C during the day, you have to do so before 4pm. By the next morning the water temperature will be down to 30 C (there is a formula to calculate this on the Kwikhot website). Every shower drops the heat a further 2 C. When the fourth member of the family showers in the morning, it will have to be a very cool shower. Not ideal in the winter.

You therefore need an extra battery to heat the geyser during the night. I am sure that if you throw enough money at the problem you can solve it without using a dedicated PV system for the geyser. My solution was cheap and works perfectly for me.

 

[Speedster]

R9 000 for this kit and R8 400 for two JA 540 solar panels.

If you heat a geyser with a normal element to 60 C during the day, you have to do so before 4pm. By the next morning the water temperature will be down to 30 C (there is a formula to calculate this on the Kwikhot website). Every shower drops the heat a further 2 C. When the fourth member of the family showers in the morning, it will have to be a very cool shower. Not ideal in the winter.

I am sure that if you throw enough money at the problem you can solve it without using a dedicated PV system for the geyser. My solution was cheap and works perfectly for me.

How does your geyserwise system heat the water overnight then without using the grid?

Also, I think you have your data mixed up. There's no way a geyser loses 30 degrees overnight from standing losses. Maybe 3 degrees.

 

[richjdavies]

How does your geyserwise system heat the water overnight then without using the grid?

Also, I think you have your data mixed up. There's no way a geyser loses 30 degrees overnight from standing losses. Maybe 3 degrees.

Using secret electricity

Completely with you. If your geyser loses 30 degrees over night with no usage, there's a problem (leak, overflow, wind blowing over it).
Also a "shower" is not created equally. When I shower -- maybe a degree a two. If the wife showers and washer her hair can easily be the whole geyser worth!

 

[Stonemason]

How does your geyserwise system heat the water overnight then without using the grid?

Also, I think you have your data mixed up. There's no way a geyser loses 30 degrees overnight from standing losses. Maybe 3 degrees.

The Geyserwise heats the water to 75 degrees during the day using the sun. By the next morning the temperature is 50 degrees. A normal AC element can also heat it to that level but that would require quite a bit of electricity.

I have a new Kwikhot Dual 600 geyer which is double insulated and designed to retain heat Yet it still loses 25 degrees in the 14 hours between 4 pm and 6 am. Older more conventional geysers lose a lot more heat.

 

[Stonemason]

Using secret electricity

Not necessary to heat water during the night in my case.

I am not trying to convince anybody that my plan is the best, all I am saying is that this worked out the best and the cheapest for me.

 

[acidrain]

Looking for solar installations and went through all pages and here are suggestions so far. I copied in my notepad but might be useful as summary so posting here but can this be added in first post ? @Imoe

*snip*

It would be nice if we could sticky all recommendations to Page 1.

Also there seems to be very min Cape Town recommendations even though I've seen a few questions but rarely any answers.

 

[richjdavies]

I have a new Kwikhot Dual 600 geyer which is double insulated and designed to retain heat Yet it still loses 25 degrees in the 14 hours between 4 pm and 6 am. Older more conventional geysers lose a lot more heat.

There is something wrong with your geyser or you are using water.

If it loses 25 degrees over night and it's 150L that's a standing loss of
4.2 x 25 X 150 /3600 = 4.3kWh in 14 hours.

A B class geyser is meant to lose 1.1kWh in a day! So only 0.64kWh in 14 hours... You are 6x the correct number.

Or someone is secretly showering every night!

More info here

How much does my geyser cost? – Homebug

blog.homebug.co.za

Googling it makes me pull my hair out as there are technical sites saying things like "class B standing loss is 50W per hour" (people claiming to be technical not understanding units ahhh!). But yes same thing. 50W for 14 hours = 0.7kWh.
Or put another way
0.7kWh x 3600 / 4.2 / 150L = 4 degree drop in 15 hours!

 

[DarshanN95]

Any Cpt installers?

 

[Stonemason]

There is something wrong with your geyser or you are using water.

If it loses 25 degrees over night and it's 150L that's a standing loss of
4.2 x 25 X 150 /3600 = 4.3kWh in 14 hours.

A B class geyser is meant to lose 1.1kWh in a day! So only 0.64kWh in 14 hours... You are 6x the correct number.

Or someone is secretly showering every night!

It is a 200 liter geyser and there is nothing wrong with it. I have a water temperature sensor in it which means I can see the exact temperature. The Geyserwise system also checks for water loss and abnormal temperature fluctuations and provides you with a warning. You guys may think that your geyser loses less but if you check you will find it is not so.

edit - Two people in my house showers in the evening and we obviously wash dishes. There is therefore water consumed.

 

[Blue Shirt]

Any Cpt installers?

I have recently obtained quotations from Winelands Solar, Green Light City, Projector & Sound Services, Mantula Solar and Indulec, all in the Western Cape.

I am interested to know if anyone here has experience with Green Light City in particular.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

I have recently obtained quotations from Winelands Solar, Green Light City, Projector & Sound Services, Mantula Solar and Indulec, all in the Western Cape.

I am interested to know if anyone here has experience with Green Light City in particular.

How varied are the quotes regarding labour costs?

 

[Blue Shirt]

How varied are the quotes regarding labour costs?

Installation costs vary between R17k and R32k, but that includes some hardware like cables, changeover switch and CoC.

 

[AfricanTech]

Very interested in feedback from people based in the Western Cape.

Just an observation but based on what I've read here on MyBB the solutions are still a fair way away from being generically consumer friendly.

I'm also somewhat nonplussed by the apparent 'informal' nature of installers with people like ourselves having to rely on word of mouth to (hopefully) ensure that we don't get shafted.

Also, it seems that installers don't leave their customers with a 'best practice' guide for the rest of the family to follow eg don't run your Airfryer when running on battery, etc, etc

Its still a bit of the 'Wild West' out there.

Then again, I shouldn't be surprised if I use the building industry as a yardstick.

 

[W@P]

Very interested in feedback from people based in the Western Cape.

Just an observation but based on what I've read here on MyBB the solutions are still a fair way away from being generically consumer friendly.

I'm also somewhat nonplussed by the apparent 'informal' nature of installers with people like ourselves having to rely on word of mouth to (hopefully) ensure that we don't get shafted.

Also, it seems that installers don't leave their customers with a 'best practice' guide for the rest of the family to follow eg don't run your Airfryer when running on battery, etc, etc

Its still a bit of the 'Wild West' out there.

Then again, I shouldn't be surprised if I use the building industry as a yardstick.

That's why you get a big enough inverter and 1C batteries so they can cope with those little oepsies.

 

[Mzezman]

That's why you get a big enough inverter and 1C batteries so they can cope with those little oepsies.

Paired with a level of understanding of the capabilities of your system And yes @AfricanTech there really is no one size fits all set and forget at a cheaper price - you'd have to pay tons to be able to switch to solar and NOT think about what's running at all. Further - the large increase in demand means fly by night installers are all over the place - they themselves don't understand what the systems can do

 

[Madliz]

Hi guys.
What do you think about renting a solar service. Gosolr offers packages ( Medium to Xlarge) according to your household needs. They install the equiment ( panels, battey and inverter) and you rent it as long as you wish. There is a fee for terminating the contract that is based on how long you have rented the equipment. They do yearly inspections to check if everthings ok and if something goes faulty they replace it. According to them they also upgrade the equipment every few years.
Rental for a medium system ( up to 900KWh per month - 8 x 455W panels, 1x 5.5 KWh lithium battery and 5 KW hybrid inverter) is R1580 per month. They did not do a formal quote, so I do not know if there is a yearly escalation. I first wanted to know your opinion and if anyone else is maybe using their services, their opinion.
Thanks

 

[Mzezman]

Hi guys.
What do you think about renting a solar service. Gosolr offers packages ( Medium to Xlarge) according to your household needs. They install the equiment ( panels, battey and inverter) and you rent it as long as you wish. There is a fee for terminating the contract that is based on how long you have rented the equipment. They do yearly inspections to check if everthings ok and if something goes faulty they replace it. According to them they also upgrade the equipment every few years.
Rental for a medium system ( up to 900KWh per month - 8 x 455W panels, 1x 5.5 KWh lithium battery and 5 KW hybrid inverter) is R1580 per month. They did not do a formal quote, so I do not know if there is a yearly escalation. I first wanted to know your opinion and if anyone else is maybe using their services, their opinion.
Thanks

GoSolr 8kW (Large option) install

Because fdlysis asked, here is my post on the Goslr install. Also, I'm very close to the boundary of being guilty of hijacking Scubadude's 8kW Solar Installation thread! I didn't want this post to come across as a Goslr promotion, I think they are cool, but that's the limit of my interest in...

www.avforums.co.za

 

[Paul_S]

Hi guys.
What do you think about renting a solar service. Gosolr offers packages ( Medium to Xlarge) according to your household needs. They install the equiment ( panels, battey and inverter) and you rent it as long as you wish. There is a fee for terminating the contract that is based on how long you have rented the equipment. They do yearly inspections to check if everthings ok and if something goes faulty they replace it. According to them they also upgrade the equipment every few years.
Rental for a medium system ( up to 900KWh per month - 8 x 455W panels, 1x 5.5 KWh lithium battery and 5 KW hybrid inverter) is R1580 per month. They did not do a formal quote, so I do not know if there is a yearly escalation. I first wanted to know your opinion and if anyone else is maybe using their services, their opinion.
Thanks

If you can take a loan against your house bond you can purchase a better system for not much more.
There are a few of concerns I would have.

1. There is only one 5.5kWh battery which means that if it's a 0.5C you can only draw 2.76kW at any given time when the grid is down and the sun isn't shining. Switch on a hairdryer and kettle at the same time and the BMS will be tripping. Hopefully it's a battery which can be discharged at 1C. Two 5kWh 1C batteries is a much safer bet and you'll have less worries about overloading.
2. 8 x 455W panels isn't an aweful lot. Most people need about 12 to 14 such panels for a medium size house.
3. Reviews on HelloPeter are not inspiring https://www.hellopeter.com/gosolr
4. I can't find any financial terms and conditions online. I would not be surprised if there is an annual CPI+something increase worked into the deal.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Very interested in feedback from people based in the Western Cape.

Just an observation but based on what I've read here on MyBB the solutions are still a fair way away from being generically consumer friendly.

I'm also somewhat nonplussed by the apparent 'informal' nature of installers with people like ourselves having to rely on word of mouth to (hopefully) ensure that we don't get shafted.

Also, it seems that installers don't leave their customers with a 'best practice' guide for the rest of the family to follow eg don't run your Airfryer when running on battery, etc, etc

Its still a bit of the 'Wild West' out there.

Then again, I shouldn't be surprised if I use the building industry as a yardstick.

It'll come naturally to you. Everyone starts off as a solar policeman until the family understands what they can or can't do, or at the very least they'll start asking first.

It's not too bad though. On a 0.5C 10 kWh bank you can still do a 5 kW load. Add more batteries if you need to increase load size, or move the geyser onto non-essentials since it's the biggest culprit in causing a high load.

You can also run some small home automation to alert everyone when the grid is down and you're now on batteries. Then another alert for when the grid is back up so they don't have have to monitor anymore.

Lots of ways to navigate running on batteries only...