Don't you wish that electronic equipment should come with a fellow in the box to help complete the installation correctly? Well with SOLCO, there is a man-in-a-box to help make certain that all goes to plan.
As a travel writer I am often away from home for extended periods of time. It was for this reason that we first installed a generator to make certain that my wife had electricity while I was travelling.
It was not quite the success that we had envisioned as it required going outside to manually start it as an automatic connection was far to costly compared to what we had spent on the generator. However, for a few of years it served its purpose and kept our lights on and the neighbours awake.
Then in 2019 we contracted SOLCO Solar to do our first ‘off grid’ installation.
Silence reigned as we said goodbye to our generator and installed a 5Kva inverter, 4 batteries and 9 solar panels to have a system that ran our entire household, with the exception of the geyser. That installation served us well until the latter half of 2022.
We were glad to get rid of the generator, given the increasing cost of petrol and the inherent danger that those devices have. (A friend of mine burnt down 1/3 of his house due to a generator fire)
Now, in the second half of 2022 ESKOM has ramped up the load-shedding and the post load shedding outages are becoming a concern to us.
A call to SOLCO for suggestions and they recommended an upgrade to an 8.8Kva inverter, 6 batteries and 15 panels!
This system would not only handle post load-shedding outages, but we would be able to run the geyser and the oven once again when mains power has off.
Now I can head out on my travels knowing that my wife will be safe at home and capable of cooking and having a hot shower.
Out with the old and in with the new…
“Here comes the sun”
This lyric from a Beatles song should be changed to “Let’s use the sun”. An underrated renewable energy source available to all.
This upgrade would enable us to kiss goodbye to City Power and by extension, ESKOM. Well, much of it anyway!
After the recent load shedding that we endured in our suburb, which was followed by a 40-hour outage due to a blown fuse on the phase that feeds our house(together with several others in our street), we decided that it was time for an upgrade.
Upfront, I have to say that the installation was not cheap, but given an unstable electrical grid as well as the constant tariff increases, this route is virtually the only option left to homeowners.
It would be great if there were tax incentives for systems that ‘free’ up grid electricity for other users, but currently that is not an option.
This quote from ESKOM seems to sum up their status for the foreseeable future:
“We, however, remind customers that, as the system continues to be vulnerable and unpredictable, the possibility of load shedding remains.”
It ceases to amaze me as to the inventiveness of the excuses that they put out in their press releases. Always prefixed by the words “we regret”…when they really do not.
All the ministers involved a quick(?) to come out with statements saying that load shedding will soon be a thing of the past.
And those statements are immediately followed by the extension of whatever the current Stage is.
ESKOM have a habit of working in 3 day tranches and then just extending after having promised a reduction in the Stage.
How often can management stop hiding the fact that it is sabotage pure and simple that is keeping the power stations from operating at levels where the grid is stable.
But enough of a rant as it serves no purpose.
My solution to this problem would be to encourage those who can afford solar systems to install them and then be given rebates/tax cuts.
This will allow ESLOM to concentrate their supply capability on those who cannot afford expensive systems.
NOT by asking for increases to try to recover THEIR losses.
And now our President asks the people of South Africa to be patient? Until he does what? But that is a debate for another post altogether.
Making certain that I can keep in touch with the system from anywhere in the world. Although I am not able to change any settings remotely, I am able to see if the system is operating correctly.
SOLCO also has access to the information and can keep track of usage to make certain that the system is working at optimal capacity.
This reading was taken while there WAS grid power. But the amount required is minimal and the batteries will see us through the night, while the panels power our house during the sunlight hours.
More pipes than a church organ. And like a church organ, it looks impressive.
It is more often the green light that burns the brightest or burns at all for that matter.
The ESKOM light is off so often that I was about to phone SOLCO to come and check if it was working!
Our system was put to the test within days of being installed as we had a 24 hour unplanned outage after a fuse in the local mini-sub blew. We did have to manage several appliances to make certain that the system continued to work overnight and in the morning there was still 25% battery power left. More than enough to get us to where the panels started charging them and fed the house. By the time mains power returned, they were up to 88% and would have kept us going should the need have arisen.
And then it came on for the short period between planned Stage 5 outages, just to prove that ESKOM is not a figment of our collective imaginations.
This is the new inverter. Top of the range and capable of handling our 2-person household with ease.
The series, SUN-5/6K-SG01LP1-US SUN-7.6/8K-SG01LP1-US/EU, is a single-phase low voltage (48V) hybrid inverter that enables enhanced energy independence and maximizes self-consumption through export limit feature and “time of use” function. With the frequency droop control algorithm, this series product supports single phase and three phase parallel application.
200A fuses to ensure that the panels and batteries are protected.
I keep spares of these fuses just in case. All other electrical connections are controlled by circuit breakers that can be reset, should they trip.
Battery technology has come along in leaps and bounds.
The deep-cycle batteries that used to power these systems, were large, heavy and needed LOTS of space.
The new lithium batteries are about the size of a DVD player and are electronically controlled.
The lights on the front panel give you instant information as to the state of the charge.
Being the heart of the system, these can also be the most expensive part of the installation.
Those who are considering which batteries to use should also take into account the longevity of the battery.
Deep cycle batteries will last up to 8 years, while the lithium counterparts are good for 15-20 years.
With the upgrade the batteries were going to he housed in two cabinets, but SOLCO was able to source us a single cabinet into which all 6 batteries would fit…and there is STILL room for one more, should that be required.
What is this ESKOM mode of which you speak?
More fans than a Justin Bieber concert.
An increased number of panels on the roof.
The difference between the old and the new panels can clearly be seen, given the winter dust layer on the old ones.
This system, which served us well from December 2019 to September 2022 looks so simple by comparison to what is currently installed.
The upgraded system is designed to run our entire household, including the geyser and the oven, which the old system could not do.
We have a Geyser Wise control fitted to our geyser to regulate the temperature efficiently. We have also lagged all the copper pipes to and from the geyser.
We have a gas hob installed, to reduce the load on the batteries in the evening.
The upgrade took us from a 5Kva to an 8,8Kva inverter. We added 2 more batteries, taking the total to 6 and we added a further 6 panels to give us 15.
This might sound like overkill, but it is not the load shedding that we were concerned about, it is the effect on the aging electrical reticulation and sub station network in Johannesburg that is the issue post load shedding.
And those outages cannot be planned for or controlled and it was for that reason that we chose to upgrade our system.
And if the load shedding was not enough to drive up the price of solar and generator prices, it seems that in Johannesburg there is now a shortage of candles!
BTW, have you heard that in Stage 8, ESKOM will come to your house and remove your candles…you have been warned.
1] My initial contact with the company was dealt with promptly.
2] Appointments that were scheduled were kept. If there was going to be a delay,
this was conveyed via What’s App.
3] We were also offered the option of replacing our current geyser with a solar one.
We chose not to go that route at present as the cost seemed excessive.
4] The job was completed within the specified time frame.
And just like that, load shedding returned!
But at Chez Batz, with the system working correctly we are totally unaware that there is load shedding going on.
I do have a pilot light installed on our main DB board in the pantry so that I am aware if the mains power is on or off. But that is for reference only. During outages and load shedding our home functions as normal.
A big thank you to Bernard and his team who have kept our lights on and our costs down since 2019.
And then it came on for the short period between planned Stage 5 outages, just to prove that ESKOM is not a figment of our collective imaginations.
