A dark Africa lays ahead.....load shedding

[Eddy Gordo]

I have heard, ok, lets say rather there are rumours that once stuff is fixed at any eskom site or equipment, someone else is payed to break it. Tender corruption?

[mecheng89]

1 hour ago, Eddy Gordo said:

I have heard, ok, lets say rather there are rumours that once stuff is fixed at any eskom site or equipment, someone else is payed to break it. Tender corruption?

What twisted world does Eskom live in to think this is good business practice? But they probably don't give 2 hoots since all the big wigs probably all have 14 panels on their roof, state of the art batteries and inverters. 

[Eddy Gordo]

3 minutes ago, mecheng89 said:

What twisted world does Eskom live in to think this is good business practice? But they probably don't give 2 hoots since all the big wigs probably all have 14 panels on their roof, state of the art batteries and inverters. 

I think it is more to do with the people doing the repairs that are outsourced. Making sure they always have work.

But like I said, its a rumour.

[Frosty]

My company has a security division, and they tendered on extra security at all Eskom sites with the mandate to guard against sabotage. The price for the contract was too high, so obviously declined. Have since found out that a tendepreneur company got the "guarding" business, and they aren't held liable for any losses.

[Eddy Gordo]

Further incidents of sabotage at Eskom power stations thwart efforts to halt load shedding

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/investigations/breaking-further-incidents-of-sabotage-at-eskom-power-stations-thwart-efforts-to-halt-load-shedding-20220520

 

[HdB]

For those that know far more than I do about inverters and solar panels, if the inverter/solar charger unit (it is similar to those Ellies trolley types that come with two 100ah batteries) has the following specs:
- Power: 2500W
- Voltage: 24VDC
- Charging Current: 30A
- PV Input Voltage Range: 30V-44V
- Max PV Input Voltage (At the lowest temperature): 50V
- PV Array Maximum Power: 840W

How many solar panels do not blow things up?
For example, a 370w panel might have the following:
- Voltage at Pmax (vmp) (V) 36
- Current at Pmax (imp) (A) 10.28

Then two in parallel would not exceed the max watts, be within the voltage range, and below (too low?) the charging current?

[Vetplant]

39 minutes ago, HdB said:

For those that know far more than I do about inverters and solar panels, if the inverter/solar charger unit (it is similar to those Ellies trolley types that come with two 100ah batteries) has the following specs:
- Power: 2500W
- Voltage: 24VDC
- Charging Current: 30A
- PV Input Voltage Range: 30V-44V
- Max PV Input Voltage (At the lowest temperature): 50V
- PV Array Maximum Power: 840W

How many solar panels do not blow things up?
For example, a 370w panel might have the following:
- Voltage at Pmax (vmp) (V) 36
- Current at Pmax (imp) (A) 10.28

Then two in parallel would not exceed the max watts, be within the voltage range, and below (too low?) the charging current?

You'll be all good with two of those panels. The charging current is listed there is just the maximum achievable. Your 20A should be fine. 

In an ideal world I would try to find 2x 420W Panels to get the most out of the setup. 

[Fruity]

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/451550-how-much-it-costs-to-get-solar-power-and-say-goodbye-to-eskom.html

[Frosty]

9 hours ago, WeekendWarrior80 said:

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/451550-how-much-it-costs-to-get-solar-power-and-say-goodbye-to-eskom.html

They did a similar article last year, and I challenged them on their figures because they used one example only, and made some narrow-minded assumptions based on that one example.

It’s good to see they have improved on that article. I was on 600kWh monthly usage, and for 3 batteries they aren’t far off on their estimated expenses. Mine was R108k with 1 battery, but adding 2 more batteries, it would take it to about R160k (2020 pricing).

Amazing what difference it makes when considering that many homes are different and using one example (showing R350k).

[HdB]

As an interim solution, I went with a trolley style setup.

Two 100ah AGM batteries in the case, and a solar-capable inverter. Will consider the panels in a month or three. And lithium batteries once these are kaput.

Early days, but so far no issues running our router, work laptops and multiple screens when the power is off. Or the TV, for the all-important TdF of course. And 99.9% less beeping of the multiple normal UPSs.

With this and the gas stove, gas braai or the weber, and load shedding suddenly is much less annoying... Solar geyser next on the (long) list for our new house

Edited July 11, 2022 by HdB

[Fruity]

13 hours ago, HdB said:

As an interim solution, I went with a trolley style setup.

Two 100ah AGM batteries in the case, and a solar-capable inverter. Will consider the panels in a month or three. And lithium batteries once these are kaput.

Early days, but so far no issues running our router, work laptops and multiple screens when the power is off. Or the TV, for the all-important TdF of course. And 99.9% less beeping of the multiple normal UPSs.

With this and the gas stove, gas braai or the weber, and load shedding suddenly is much less annoying... Solar geyser next on the (long) list for our new house

Lekker man lekker, although me personally I won't go the gas stove route unless I really have to - there's just something that plays at the back of mind telling me that the gas bottle will explode.

[The Ouzo]

8 minutes ago, WeekendWarrior80 said:

Lekker man lekker, although me personally I won't go the gas stove route unless I really have to - there's just something that plays at the back of mind telling me that the gas bottle will explode.

We were gifted a gas stove/oven combo in April. Everyone told us how crap a gas oven is to cook and bake in, but we are finding the total opposite and are really enjoying it.

Even though my DIY skills could do it, we opted to get a certified install done with the gas bottle sitting in a room just next to the kitchen, because we opted for an "in cupboard"installation" we went with a 9kg bottle. We really use the stove and oven alot, so a bottle lasts us around 1.5 months. And the convenience of being able to continue cooking when the lights goes out trumps anything else.

 

This weekend we had a birthday party for my 2 daughters, wife baked cookies and did roasts and everything turned out superb.

[HdB]

20 minutes ago, WeekendWarrior80 said:

Lekker man lekker, although me personally I won't go the gas stove route unless I really have to - there's just something that plays at the back of mind telling me that the gas bottle will explode.

In our case, the gas stove was already installed when we bought the house. And the bottle is outside, so hopefully safe. I think the oven is a normal electric one.

And the gas braai is actually my dad's, but he doesn't currently have space for it, so score!

Edited July 12, 2022 by HdB

[Fruity]

16 minutes ago, ouzo said:

We were gifted a gas stove/oven combo in April. Everyone told us how crap a gas oven is to cook and bake in, but we are finding the total opposite and are really enjoying it.

Even though my DIY skills could do it, we opted to get a certified install done with the gas bottle sitting in a room just next to the kitchen, because we opted for an "in cupboard"installation" we went with a 9kg bottle. We really use the stove and oven alot, so a bottle lasts us around 1.5 months. And the convenience of being able to continue cooking when the lights goes out trumps anything else.

 

This weekend we had a birthday party for my 2 daughters, wife baked cookies and did roasts and everything turned out superb.

👍

[Fruity]

13 minutes ago, HdB said:

In our case, the gas stove was already installed when we bought the house. And the bottle is outside, so hopefully safe. I think the oven is a normal electric one.

And the gas braai is actually my dad's, but he doesn't currently have space for it, so score!

Ja gas hey, nah I'll stick to my old faithful "big braai" 😛

[Eddy Gordo]

So we are off 2 hours at a time roughly 3 times a day sometimes twice a day.

Has anyone seen a cheaper electric bill or is it still the same?