Solutions for loadshedding

[PieterJvR]

 

Another day in Sunny South Africa

 

I want to respond but I am actually speechless, although by now I know I shouldn't expect anything less of our state institutions.   They can't provide stable supply and prevent loadshedding, but now realise they are going to loose out as more and more people are starting to generate their own electricity 

[100Tours]

We recently bought a new house, and I want to look at getting a "small" loadshedding setup with the idea of adding onto it at a later stage (batteries and solar panels).

 

To start of the idea is to probably get an inverter between1.5kva and 3kva (pure sinewave), since the idea is to add-on later and I don't want to get to the situation someone explained above, i.e. my inverter doesn't have enough capacity for everything added, probably 2 batteries (either 100/105AH or 150AH) and some solar panels if I can afford it all.

 

There are lots of information, and starting reading up on it I am getting confused, so hopefully someone here can shed some light.

 

1. Is a 24V inverter better than a 12V inverter?

2. My assumption is that I need a Hybrid inverter to use both power from solar and the grid, is this is the case?  If not, what is needed?

3. Anything else I should know, or perhaps a few links to sites I can use to get more information?

 

I will get someone to come and do the installation, etc for me, I just want to know what is happening so that I don't get bullsh**ed into something not needed or not necessarily correct.  Plus I would like to do additional add-on's myself in future (if possible).

 

Good responses above, but there are perhaps 2 price points you should think about. 

 

For under R20k you could install a 3kVa inverter/charger (R5,000) and probably 4 lead acid deep cycle batteries (R2,000 each). I have run a set of 8 lead acids for 5 years now and those are enough to see me through interruptions of up to 7 or 8h. I have no solar panels attached. Use this to power your TV, wifi and lights in the living area. I may eventually replace them with lithium, but for the moment the lead acids are fine.

 

If you rather want to build a (semi) off-grid solution you should be thinking about R100k for the install. This would give you solar panels, lithium batteries, and enough power to run basically the whole house.

 

The issue for me is that certain high reactive power loads are just not good for batteries. I would guess that the cost to your batteries of running a hairdryer, airconditioning, an electric kettle, your pool pump is what will push you over the edge. 

[bmw1za]

 

Another day in Sunny South Africa

[bmw1za]

not even surprised the bunch of twits

[Rocket-Boy]

I think more people will start looking at a full off-grid solution now.

Im expecting the municipalities will lose a lot of income and will find new costs to add if you have solar power installed.

The next thing will be seeing if you can actually disconnect your grid feed entirely, Im sure most municipalities wont allow that.

 

Its pretty hilarious though that they cant provide a stable connection but still want to penalize anyone that makes another plan and doesnt use the very limited capacity they can provide.

[dirtrider]

And don't forget that this thieves (some call them government) also want you to register your backup generator and pay for it's usage. Next they will want to TAX UPS devices.

[Frosty]

Eskom, the only company I know that spends money on advertising, to ask their customer base to stop using their product.

 

I’d like to show them my hand and ask to pick a finger, but even though I am mostly off-grid, I would still need the grid when it’s rainy/overcast for days at a time.

[Wayne pudding Mol]

I think more people will start looking at a full off-grid solution now.

Im expecting the municipalities will lose a lot of income and will find new costs to add if you have solar power installed.

The next thing will be seeing if you can actually disconnect your grid feed entirely, Im sure most municipalities wont allow that.

 

Its pretty hilarious though that they cant provide a stable connection but still want to penalize anyone that makes another plan and doesnt use the very limited capacity they can provide.

This really irks me - provide a poor expensive and unreliable service and then try and tax me for wanting light and a hot cup of coffee

 

I am totally off grid, have been for about 6 years and recently did some upgrades as I plan to build another dwelling at some stage

 

I questioned the fact that I get an availabilty bill and subsequently found out that there is no way around it unless you have no access to municipal power

 

Holiday towns have been charging electricity availibilty for years as they don''t get much electricity revenue from these vacant homes

 

I had to have a massive fight with the George municipality when they tried to take my "availability" rate to the highest tier which is non permanent resident

 

The saddest part of this is that I produce so much excess electricity I could pump back into the grid but they won't waiver my availability fee of R327 - They could take my excess and make ten fold back I'm sure

 

But that's the short sightedness rife in SA - some municipalities are better than others

[Rocket-Boy]

This really irks me - provide a poor expensive and unreliable service and then try and tax me for wanting light and a hot cup of coffee

 

I am totally off grid, have been for about 6 years and recently did some upgrades as I plan to build another dwelling at some stage

 

I questioned the fact that I get an availabilty bill and subsequently found out that there is no way around it unless you have no access to municipal power

 

Holiday towns have been charging electricity availibilty for years as they don''t get much electricity revenue from these vacant homes

 

I had to have a massive fight with the George municipality when they tried to take my "availability" rate to the highest tier which is non permanent resident

 

The saddest part of this is that I produce so much excess electricity I could pump back into the grid but they won't waiver my availability fee of R327 - They could take my excess and make ten fold back I'm sure

 

But that's the short sightedness rife in SA - some municipalities are better than others

See this is exactly what I was worried about, the municipalities dont understand the concept of not being connected.

Im seething about this new development, I know there was talk of it recently but this is one step too far.

How is it even possible that government can force you into using Eskom when they cant even perform the one task they have properly?

 

So we cant really use Eskom because they are expensive and unreliable, but if we try to make other plans we get penalized?

 

The other thing is that I have spent a lot of money on getting my energy usage as low as possible, gas stoves, solar geysers, led lights etc. So now as a lower user of electricity Im going to get billed more regardless of if I have solar or not.

 

I think too many people have glossed over that point and think this is just about solar systems, it isnt just about solar, its about lower power users getting charged more at the same time.

[jimmycool]

In my case the proposed tariffs will actually suit me well. I have 2 houses and my workshop all running on 1 meter so my usage is very high as about three quarters of it is at the higher tier. We currently pay Eskom about R4000 a month.

[Eddy Gordo]

I am pretty much on a low tech system at home.

I have various Solar LED flood/garden lights around the back of the house and they brighter than the street lights. I have one my stoep/ driveway and it switches on as you enter the driveway. I dont switch on outside lights any longer. Indoors I have minimal lights, mainly led rope lights which I will eventually integrate into a solar system including the outside lights.

My geyser is solar, my stove is gas. 

I am planning on getting a ups system for the fridge and freezer. Not sure if I should go hybrid, but probably better.

Eventually I will only be running lights via solar power. I have been using the same battery for around 5 or 6 years now. I recharge it every few months. Hence why I havent moved over to a solar panel or two yet. We not too fussed about a tv. Cellphone, tablet or laptop can do the same.

I want my system to operate independently from the grid. Only small appliances will be grid tied. Hopefully with this logic, I wont have any of the above issues and eskom will see that I am still consuming even though much lower.

Edited January 28, 2021 by Eddy Gordo

[Rocket-Boy]

I am pretty much on a low tech system at home.

I have various Solar LED flood/garden lights around the back of the house and they brighter than the street lights. I have one my stoep/ driveway and it switches on as you enter the driveway. I dont switch on outside lights any longer. Indoors I have minimal lights, mainly led rope lights which I will eventually integrate into a solar system including the outside lights.

My geyser is solar, my stove is gas. 

I am planning on getting a ups system for the fridge and freezer. Not sure if I should go hybrid, but probably better.

Eventually I will only be running lights via solar power. I have been using the same battery for around 5 or 6 years now. I recharge it every few months. Hence why I havent moved over to a solar panel or two yet. We not too fussed about a tv. Cellphone, tablet or laptop can do the same.

I want my system to operate independently from the grid. Only small appliances will be grid tied. Hopefully with this logic, I wont have any of the above issues and eskom will see that I am still consuming even though much lower.

You are exactly the type of person who will be affected negatively by these changes.

The only people who will benefit will be high users who get lumped into the more expensive tiers.

Those tiers will fall away and be replaced by a substantially higher "availability fee" with lower charges for actual usage.

 

Im in the same boat as you are, I spent a fair amount to reduce my electricity consumption and now Im going to be penalized for it.

[Eddy Gordo]

You are exactly the type of person who will be affected negatively by these changes.

The only people who will benefit will be high users who get lumped into the more expensive tiers.

Those tiers will fall away and be replaced by a substantially higher "availability fee" with lower charges for actual usage.

 

Im in the same boat as you are, I spent a fair amount to reduce my electricity consumption and now Im going to be penalized for it.

How so? sorry man, I am not getting it. We still use a fair amount of eskom. We have cut a large chunk of it though. I think I have managed to half my original electric bill, before all the increases. But its still less currently.

 

**Ok, so basically completely off grid instead of grid tied. Wonder how much the "subscription fee" will be

Edited January 28, 2021 by Eddy Gordo

[100Tours]

 

Another day in Sunny South Africa

 

They should just set a higher connection fee for a bi-directional meter, no idea how you would enforce it otherwise (and it would make sense that they could charge you more if you also had the ability to earn something back on your solar production).

 

Then we need to remind them that they have one moerse battery in the sterkfontein dam to save up that extra productions for when the sun goes down.

[Rocket-Boy]

How so? sorry man, I am not getting it. We still use a fair amount of eskom. We have cut a large chunk of it though. I think I have managed to half my original electric bill, before all the increases. But its still less currently.

 

**Ok, so basically completely off grid instead of grid tied. Wonder how much the "subscription fee" will be

 

Maybe I misunderstood, I thought you were using very little power due to the changes you made to cut down on usage.

The new changes(regardless of if you have any backup system) will affect anyone who has an electricity bill that doesnt push you into the higher usage tiers each month.

If you were using a lot of electricity and paying more due to higher tiers then the changes may benefit you.

If however you are not constantly sitting in the higher tiers then its going to cost more, this is due to tiers going away and instead having an increased "availability fee" that will be charged by Eskom distribution.

Eskom generation will be a separate charge for actual usage.

 

Theoretically this should pave the way for being able to buy directly from an independent supplier while using the Eskom distribution network, but government will fight that as long as possible to keep Eskom alive.

 

Its effectively at the point that the ADSL market was about 6 years ago, if it all gets unbundled then private industry will come in and lower prices and the SOE will slowly be pushed out of the market, much like Telkom is experiencing lately.

[Rocket-Boy]

They should just set a higher connection fee for a bi-directional meter, no idea how you would enforce it otherwise (and it would make sense that they could charge you more if you also had the ability to earn something back on your solar production).

 

Then we need to remind them that they have one moerse battery in the sterkfontein dam to save up that extra productions for when the sun goes down.

Their main point is really inaccurate though, they are saying that they get a higher load in the evenings when the solar users stop generating power. I dont know of anyone that has a solar system without battery storage and those users are on battery power at those times, so they arent loading up the grid.

 

The only time that battery storage users might be needing the grid is late at night if its been cloudy for a few days. That is low demand time for power so the entire argument is invalid.

 

The only valid argument is that there are fixed costs for the distribution network, but the last mile is maintained by municipalities and not by Eskom unless its outside of town.