biometrics
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Yeah guess who is back pricing this...
Solar, inverter, battery thread
- Thread starter Rudolph Hart
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Düber
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With us living on a smallholding our needs are obviously different, but frankly I think a generator is the way to go. I have done the sum's over and over for a battery/solar setup and it is seriously difficult to justify.
I have my gen setup so that the houses switch over automatically, all the outside lights are on it, charges the gate etc. , when the electricity from ESKOM is restored it leaves us on it for 3 minutes and then turns itself off( I got sick of going out with my slippers and torch to turn it off.)
Servicing and getting the petrol are the only things that have to be done and when the power is off for whatever reason life just carries on.
I have my gen setup so that the houses switch over automatically, all the outside lights are on it, charges the gate etc. , when the electricity from ESKOM is restored it leaves us on it for 3 minutes and then turns itself off( I got sick of going out with my slippers and torch to turn it off.)
Servicing and getting the petrol are the only things that have to be done and when the power is off for whatever reason life just carries on.
spiderz
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computers ... computers don't like that switch over, except if they run on expensive online ups's. (which batteries have to be replaces every 2-3 years)
Someone asked me yesterday how long it would take to make back the money I spent on my PV/inverter/battery set up and I said 'never'. Face it, Eskom haven't read my meter, which is locked and outside my house, for over 2 years now and my bill is exactly the same as before I installed the system a few months ago.
But, in the same way I don't expect to make my money back on a new TV, pool pump or dining table, the fact that I haven't even noticed the 2 x 2.5 hours a day of loadshedding we've had over the last few days is payment enough.
Totally agree, we don't care if there is loadshedding. The problem is, the moment you leave the house and the first time it hits you is when all the traffic lights are out and you stuck in traffic
Our inverter runs everything except the oven and geyser which we intentionally left off of the circuit as they are big draws and not so important to be without for a couple of hours. So a couple of nights ago my son put a pizza in the oven at a minute to 6 and came back 15 minutes later thinking it was done and it was barely defrosted. The power had gone off a minute or so after he put it in the oven and he only noticed when he came back to take it out to eat
biometrics
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I'm going to skip the solar panels for now. You are only going to make your money back if you get a solar geyser too. Panels, solar geyser and additional cabling+installation costs will make it prohibitive for me. I'm ok spending around R50k now that I've picked up some freelance app dev work. Going to leave the geyser on Eskom but put the stove on the inverter (for say max 30 minute usage occationally during load shedding). So I'm going to go for only an inverter and battery. Have contacted those guys for a new quote using:Our inverter runs everything except the oven and geyser which we intentionally left off of the circuit as they are big draws and not so important to be without for a couple of hours. So a couple of nights ago my son put a pizza in the oven at a minute to 6 and came back 15 minutes later thinking it was done and it was barely defrosted. The power had gone off a minute or so after he put it in the oven and he only noticed when he came back to take it out to eat
Battery: Hubble AM2 5.5 kWh
Inverter: Sunsynk 5kW hybrid + wifi card
I ordered 2x more pylontech us3000 batteries ons Friday for R16100 each and they arrived on Wednesday. Then on Thursday morning I rebalanced the now 4x us3000 batteries and connected them up after. So now have 14kWh batteries. Even so, geysers can run off eskom.
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biometrics
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That's a lot of capacity, what inverter do you use? What kind of load and duration?
If Eskom would read my meter I've no doubt I'd be saving a few bob as the PV panels keep the house running during the day, even with the washing machine on. But if doing it again and being a realist regarding Eskom being useless cunts and my chance of a reduced bill and a refund on the credit I have, that set up you are going for would be more than enough for me as well.
We've got a gas hob though and the air fryer for emergency oven use
Yeah the 14kWh is to last through the whole night then recharge the next day. The idea is to only use at most 50% during the night to leave enough in case of loadshedding in the am.
So more towards maximum saving. I am prepaid so the savings are immediate.
The geysers is another story though, energy guzzlers.
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So more towards maximum saving. I am prepaid so the savings are immediate.
The geysers is another story though, energy guzzlers.
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biometrics
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Can't you request or send in a reading yourself?If Eskom would read my meter I've no doubt I'd be saving a few bob as the PV panels keep the house running during the day, even with the washing machine on. But if doing it again and being a realist regarding Eskom being useless cunts and my chance of a reduced bill and a refund on the credit I have, that set up you are going for would be more than enough for me as well.
We've got a gas hob though and the air fryer for emergency oven use
The meter is in a box between my house and next door. Padlocked.
Yeah, I don’t hold much hope in requesting a reading but I suppose I should look into it.
biometrics
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You can do it in Cape Town.
I’ll phone on Monday.
Düber
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Good point, not just because of the generator but also for everyday blip's and flip's I have a 2000W online and a 500W offline. The big one has all my computers, DVR's and cameras etc. on it. It is set to output 230v@50hz puresine no matter what it is fed with. Probably one of the best things I bought.
I think that is the right way of looking at it, as a quality of life investment.
biometrics
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Considering we are to stubborn to quit Africa, this is the way.
So after yesterday’s chat, I thought I’d have a look at how the battery is performing.
We had 2 hours and 10 minutes of loadshedding from 8 till 10.10 this morning (it was meant to finish at 10.30).
Outside of the normal everyday house things such as 2 x fridge/freezers running and lights and plugs etc, the washing machine was on from about 8.45, so for about an hour and a half of loadshedding time, and the kettle was boiled once also.
Before the washing machine went on I looked at the battery percentage and it was 97.16%, so that’s about 3% with normal household running operations from 8 to 8.45. So let’s say about 4% an hour without any big loads being drawn.
Then when the power came back just after 10.10 the battery was on 69.11%(oven clock starts flashing).
So quite a significant % when the washing machine and kettle are introduced but still bo problems for the normal 2 and a half hour loadshedding times.
I’m not sure how much of the 4% an hour of normal usage is down to the PV (6 x 300W panels so 1800W total input) and how much more the % would be if this was at nighttime, but I reckon without the washing machine and the kettle we could easily get though the 10 hours of day light and still have have the battery on 50%.
We had 2 hours and 10 minutes of loadshedding from 8 till 10.10 this morning (it was meant to finish at 10.30).
Outside of the normal everyday house things such as 2 x fridge/freezers running and lights and plugs etc, the washing machine was on from about 8.45, so for about an hour and a half of loadshedding time, and the kettle was boiled once also.
Before the washing machine went on I looked at the battery percentage and it was 97.16%, so that’s about 3% with normal household running operations from 8 to 8.45. So let’s say about 4% an hour without any big loads being drawn.
Then when the power came back just after 10.10 the battery was on 69.11%(oven clock starts flashing).
So quite a significant % when the washing machine and kettle are introduced but still bo problems for the normal 2 and a half hour loadshedding times.
I’m not sure how much of the 4% an hour of normal usage is down to the PV (6 x 300W panels so 1800W total input) and how much more the % would be if this was at nighttime, but I reckon without the washing machine and the kettle we could easily get though the 10 hours of day light and still have have the battery on 50%.