Solar Power Thread

maumau said:
Just a follow-up.

We decided against solar. Cost was R130k and it would have saved R3 500pa :crylaugh: :crylaugh: Even with huge electricity price increases nobody could justify the expense.

Something that put me off was the battery hums while it discharges. It was going to be installed in a cupboard in the passage or in the garage close to a bedroom. Can't live with that :(
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So this is still the problem. IF the motivation is savings in electricity then the business case almost always fails. In your case, the simple payback calculation not even taking into account the time value of money is 37 years! The product probably only lasts for a maximum of 10 years anyway.

A 10-year payback would have had to generate R13 000 p.a savings.
 
thechamp said:
Even the expensive ones do that? I thought humming was an indication of cheapness...
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In my (limited) experience, most AC generating/transforming equipment hums. Even the expensive stuff in substations...

A cheaper (modified sine wave) inverter will ALSO cause some of your appliances to make noise.
 
You're right.

There's hm, hum, Hum, HUM and HUMM. And then there's buzzzz.

Something has to oscillate to turn DC into AC at 50 cycles per second.
 
thechamp said:
Sustainable.co.za, anyone ever bought something from them? are they legit?
I am looking for an inverter and they have different brands of pure sine wave inverters, which brand is recommended?
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I have not bought anything from them but have obtained a quote from them and they were very efficient with quoting and follow up...so I would say they are legit
 
Yeah, My power bill is around R300 a month. lets say R400 with all the increases. I just can't see how some of you guys spend R100K + on solar just to save money. The sums don't add up. Yes there are peeps that can't get grid power. But grid power has always been cheaper.

On a 150K fixed investment I get R1100 approx a month. no need to worry about hail damage on panels, cables stolen for copper, batteries at their end of life, or inverter/chargers failing due to wear and tear. ( Yes silicon has a short life.)

I can't justify spending R35000 on a geyser to run solar. Its great for the environment but not at the cost these people are dreaming up.
 
Magnum said:
Yeah, My power bill is around R300 a month. lets say R400 with all the increases. I just can't see how some of you guys spend R100K + on solar just to save money. The sums don't add up. Yes there are peeps that can't get grid power. But grid power has always been cheaper.

On a 150K fixed investment I get R1100 approx a month. no need to worry about hail damage on panels, cables stolen for copper, batteries at their end of life, or inverter/chargers failing due to wear and tear. ( Yes silicon has a short life.)

I can't justify spending R35000 on a geyser to run solar. Its great for the environment but not at the cost these people are dreaming up.
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Keep in mind that a lot of people's power bill is significantly more than R300...then it makes a lot more sense

For sure R300 there is No need but I am Not sure how you manage R300 with geyser and everything else .... that's around 200kwh ? I guess you on prepaid.
 
Geoff.D said:
So I think what we are all trying to convey is that because you have a spare battery lying around is probably not the way to go about making use of solar power for lighting in your home ....

A more systematic design process is called for.
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Just don't want waste all the stuff I bought when we still had black outs.
 
gimpex said:
Keep in mind that a lot of people's power bill is significantly more than R300...then it makes a lot more sense

For sure R300 there is No need but I am Not sure how you manage R300 with geyser and everything else .... that's around 200kwh ? I guess you on prepaid.
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No postpaid. Geyser stays on 24/7. My old PC runs most of the time. Don't have air-con and don't burn heaters. Have asked around and my usage and cost is in line with locals. So can't blame meter calibration. I don't waste as far as I can.
 
Magnum said:
I can't justify spending R35000 on a geyser to run solar. Its great for the environment but not at the cost these people are dreaming up.
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I paid R26k for a 60-collector system a month ago. Already had a 150L, so they added a 2nd 150L ... so far it's saving me 8-10 units a day, which is around R500/month. In winter it will be more.
So that's 52 months to pay back without any Eskom increases.
Let's say Eskom gets an average of 7% increase per year ... I'll be paid off in July 2021 ... 3.5 years.
And by the time it's done, I've got an extra R650 in my pocket a month
 
maumau said:
Just a follow-up.

We decided against solar. Cost was R130k and it would have saved R3 500pa :crylaugh: :crylaugh: Even with huge electricity price increases nobody could justify the expense.

Something that put me off was the battery hums while it discharges. It was going to be installed in a cupboard in the passage or in the garage close to a bedroom. Can't live with that :(
Click to expand...

The battery along is about R75 000. That's just stupid. For a 2kWh system, R130k is totally ridiculous. And the battery only stores 4kWh. That vendor is taking a chance.
 
Gaz{M} said:
The battery along is about R75 000. That's just stupid. For a 2kWh system, R130k is totally ridiculous. And the battery only stores 4kWh. That vendor is taking a chance.
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The price was ridiculous will revisit solar in a year or so to see what's changed.
 
Magnum said:
Yeah, My power bill is around R300 a month. lets say R400 with all the increases. I just can't see how some of you guys spend R100K + on solar just to save money. The sums don't add up. Yes there are peeps that can't get grid power. But grid power has always been cheaper.

On a 150K fixed investment I get R1100 approx a month. no need to worry about hail damage on panels, cables stolen for copper, batteries at their end of life, or inverter/chargers failing due to wear and tear. ( Yes silicon has a short life.)

I can't justify spending R35000 on a geyser to run solar. Its great for the environment but not at the cost these people are dreaming up.
Click to expand...

Our (Me, wife, 2 young daughters) power bill used to be about R1700pm, in 2012. Aprox R70,000 later and it's down to R300pm, to this day.
 
maumau said:
Just a follow-up.

We decided against solar. Cost was R130k and it would have saved R3 500pa :crylaugh: :crylaugh: Even with huge electricity price increases nobody could justify the expense.

Something that put me off was the battery hums while it discharges. It was going to be installed in a cupboard in the passage or in the garage close to a bedroom. Can't live with that :(
Click to expand...

Use a cheaper inverter and panels and you'll see a difference. Canadian solar is a good brand and the panels perform very well but many cheaper brands perform similar and also offer the same guarantee.

Here's the trick with solar, unless you live on a farm, or operate a factory, for home use it's not economical to go off grid.

Run as much as you can during the day, off the solar panels, and use batteries at night for lights / TV / fridges / alarm system. Then you can get away with a smaller / cheaper system and save a lot of money.
 
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