Solutions for loadshedding

[Eddy Gordo]

What I dont get though is. 14 years+-, Eskom "please use electric sparingly" started giving out globes etc. Went on to put ads on tv that the grid is strained and please switch of unnecessary appliances etc.

So now, people are using less, putting way less strain on the grid and now they want to penalize the general public. Its ridiculous.

I know they are not making profits they expect to make. But come on, imagine a cool drink/ juice or beer company tells you, that you can only buy 200ml and not 500ml any longer. Then they charge you the price of a 1l cause they loosing out on profits. Its strange. If you want to make a profit, you need to be able to supply for the demand, not increase prices to ridiculous levels, as is now happening in many industries. At work I have started cutting down our markup on goods, with out my boss knowing. I want to sell more, and not less. Times are tough and people need money in hand these days.

[The Ouzo]

In December we changed our old fashioned wall/TV cabinet for something more modern.

Whilst I had everything out I took the opportunity to rewire what was being fed by the UPS. At the time UPS had the entire entertainment system connect, WIFI, HT Amp, TV, Laptop, it did not last 20 minutes even with everything in standby mode.

So we landed up just turning the UPS off.

 

After the rewire I have the fibre and WIFI connected. On 2 Jan they stole the power cables in our area, UPS lasted 5 hours till dead. (I know I should not let it go dead).

 

But I'm glad I rewired. My eldest has been homeschooling this week, wife just sends me a message now, they have loadshedding, but thankfully my daughter can still continue with her school work. (that is until she runs her ipad flat)

[Rocket-Boy]

What I dont get though is. 14 years+-, Eskom "please use electric sparingly" started giving out globes etc. Went on to put ads on tv that the grid is strained and please switch of unnecessary appliances etc.

So now, people are using less, putting way less strain on the grid and now they want to penalize the general public. Its ridiculous.

I know they are not making profits they expect to make. But come on, imagine a cool drink/ juice or beer company tells you, that you can only buy 200ml and not 500ml any longer. Then they charge you the price of a 1l cause they loosing out on profits. Its strange. If you want to make a profit, you need to be able to supply for the demand, not increase prices to ridiculous levels, as is now happening in many industries. At work I have started cutting down our markup on goods, with out my boss knowing. I want to sell more, and not less. Times are tough and people need money in hand these days.

Exactly this!

it makes very little sense especially since there was loadshedding just last week, so they clearly cant supply the electricity volumes they need to sell.

Instead they are increasing the prices and removing our ability to make other plans, hiding behind government legislation again.

 

It shows how the government doesnt actually have the best interests of the people they are meant to represent at heart. That is the most scary part for me.

[The Ouzo]

In December we changed our old fashioned wall/TV cabinet for something more modern.

Whilst I had everything out I took the opportunity to rewire what was being fed by the UPS. At the time UPS had the entire entertainment system connect, WIFI, HT Amp, TV, Laptop, it did not last 20 minutes even with everything in standby mode.

So we landed up just turning the UPS off.

 

After the rewire I have the fibre and WIFI connected. On 2 Jan they stole the power cables in our area, UPS lasted 5 hours till dead. (I know I should not let it go dead).

 

But I'm glad I rewired. My eldest has been homeschooling this week, wife just sends me a message now, they have loadshedding, but thankfully my daughter can still continue with her school work. (that is until she runs her ipad flat)

So if the buzz on the neighbourhood whatsapp group is to believed its a tripped sub-station caused by ............. an ants nest.

[Frosty]

Seems most of the East Rand was affected yesterday, from Kempton Park, Boskburg, Germiston, Alberton and a few JHB areas surrounding these 'burbs. Not all at the same time, but it was reported throughout the day.

[Stretched@Birth]

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 is quite interesting, a municipality that is thinking progressively.  I have to assume that this is being driven by people such as the guys from SPS - https://sps.africa/ - who have their offices at Lourensford.  

 

https://stellenbosch.gov.za/2021/01/28/stellenbosch-determined-to-become-the-first-municipality-without-load-shedding/

[Rocket-Boy]

This is quite interesting, a municipality that is thinking progressively.  I have to assume that this is being driven by people such as the guys from SPS - https://sps.africa/ - who have their offices at Lourensford.  

 

https://stellenbosch.gov.za/2021/01/28/stellenbosch-determined-to-become-the-first-municipality-without-load-shedding/

I was reading about it yesterday, its a great initiative. 

It was one of those few times where government was backed into a corner and had to give in a little with allowing municipalities to buy from IPP's.

Just think if power production and procurement was entirely unregulated in SA, Im sure it would end up more like the internet landscape in SA now compared to when Telkom had the monopoly.

[Capricorn]

I was reading about it yesterday, its a great initiative. 

It was one of those few times where government was backed into a corner and had to give in a little with allowing municipalities to buy from IPP's.

Just think if power production and procurement was entirely unregulated in SA, Im sure it would end up more like the internet landscape in SA now compared to when Telkom had the monopoly.

i wonder if they are going to implement a virtual power plant, as is the case in South Australia. I think that concept holds enormous potential.

[Rocket-Boy]

i wonder if they are going to implement a virtual power plant, as is the case in South Australia. I think that concept holds enormous potential.

There is a lot of very interesting storage options that they are trying to figure out how to mass produce and commercialize at this point.

It takes a really long time from small scale manufacturing to get to cheaper large scale production.

 

Mechanical batteries that use a flywheel, glass cathodes, super capacitors etc all have some pretty good chances of large storage volumes with smaller footprints and lower costs.

 

Once storage is properly figured out then it paves the way for large scales of solar and wind generation.

[bmw1za]

took the plunge and got an inverter(5kv Hibrid smart etc 48v)... step 2 is getting 4 x 120ah batteries(200ah a bit of a big plunge)... omg the prices(sigh). 

 

Anyone seen better battery prices than R1900 possibly ? 

[kosmonooit]

took the plunge and got an inverter(5kv Hibrid smart etc 48v)... step 2 is getting 4 x 120ah batteries(200ah a bit of a big plunge)... omg the prices(sigh). 

 

Anyone seen better battery prices than R1900 possibly ? 

 

skykingsolar.co.za

[Frosty]

took the plunge and got an inverter(5kv Hibrid smart etc 48v)... step 2 is getting 4 x 120ah batteries(200ah a bit of a big plunge)... omg the prices(sigh).

 

Anyone seen better battery prices than R1900 possibly ?

You’re going to spend +/- R8k every three years on those types of batteries, IF you cycle them correctly; less if you don’t. These shouldn’t go lower than 50%.

 

If you have any money in an access bond or savings, rather go for a LiFePO4 battery - costs more, but will also last longer and work out cheaper in the long run.

 

Edit: should discharge lower than 50%

Referring to AGM, LeadAcid or Gel batteries.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Frosty

[100Tours]

You’re going to spend +/- R8k every three years on those types of batteries, IF you cycle them correctly; less if you don’t. These should go lower than 50%.

 

If you have any money in an access bond or savings, rather go for a LiFePO4 battery - costs more, but will also last longer and work out cheaper in the long run.

 

Should be every 6 years, can be as good as every 12 (but that seems ambitious). The Lithium batteries are waranteed for 10, not sure how long they last (not forever though).

 

Edit - We've got Lithiums out in the bush these days because they can probably better handle the abuse of various untrained users - one of our users tried to run a washing machine on the lead acids we have installed, which was just about the last thing to run on them. The Lithiums also give you expansion options because you don't have to run them in cohorts.

 

If you're running them yourself, and if you are running low reactive power appliances (TV and lights) then the economics are probably comparable.

Edited February 10, 2021 by 100Tours

[Frosty]

Should be every 6 years, can be as good as every 12 (but that seems ambitious). The Lithium batteries are waranteed for 10, not sure how long they last (not forever though).

 

Edit - We've got Lithiums out in the bush these days because they can probably better handle the abuse of various untrained users - one of our users tried to run a washing machine on the lead acids we have installed, which was just about the last thing to run on them. The Lithiums also give you expansion options because you don't have to run them in cohorts.

 

If you're running them yourself, and if you are running low reactive power appliances (TV and lights) then the economics are probably comparable.

I got 3.5 years out of my lead acid batteries and less than 6 months on gel (school fees paid). The problem towards the end of the life cycle was the length of time the backup would last (less than an hour).

 

My Lithium battery is warranted for 10 years (5000 cycles) but can last longer, albeit at a lower efficiency. At least if I buy another one, it’s a simple parallel connection.

[kosmonooit]

You can't really get into energy harvesting with Lead Acid - daily charge / discharge so bear that in mind. It is strictly for occasional standby power use, okay, also bear in mind only 50% of energy should be used, dip below 50% SoC and you are going into  severely reduced life expectancy.

 

I have sites going down to 20% on Pylontechs every night, so far, so good.

[Rocket-Boy]

took the plunge and got an inverter(5kv Hibrid smart etc 48v)... step 2 is getting 4 x 120ah batteries(200ah a bit of a big plunge)... omg the prices(sigh). 

 

Anyone seen better battery prices than R1900 possibly ? 

If you are able to stretch it then Lithium is a lot cheaper in the long run, its more expensive initially though.

https://www.sustainable.co.za/pylontech-us2000b-2-4kwh-48v-li-ion-battery-incl-brackets.html

That is a fair bit more battery than 4x 120ah would be and it will last many years longer.

 

The downside obviously is that it costs more upfront. It can be discharged to 80% where as it would be a bad idea to discharge lead-acid past 50%.

The other side is that lead-acid is good for max 500 cycles at 50% discharge. The Pylon is rated at 6000 cycles at 80% which is where the really big difference with lifespan comes in.