Keith Fawcett

Power Forum – Retirement Village Queries 2023/05/10 – Keith Fawcett, Hout Bay Current Status 1. I live in a Retirement Village in Cape Town – 40-Units (30-off 2-Bedroom Cottages + 10-off Single Bedroom Flats. - I am seeking to make a ‘sensible/well-reasoned Submission’ to the Body Corporate to address the problem of Load Shedding. - therefore, I need to be able to answer multiple queries 2. ALL Units are North-facing with Sloping Roofs – all Units have individual Electricity Meters. 3. There are currently multiple Solar Panels on the Roofs of Garages in the Car Parking area,- these Solar panels connect directly to City of Cape Town (CoCT) who ‘credit’ the Body Corporate (BC) Monthly Electricity Account accordingly – the BC then calculates the applicable ‘Electricity Usage’ accordingly to each Unit. 4. There is (currently) NO Battery Storage facility – except for one medium-size Back-Up Battery to power the Security System at the Complex (Electric Fence – Security cameras, Electric Entrance Gates, some Security Lights, Communication to security Company, etc.) 5. The ‘harvesting’ of our Solar Energy is ‘lost’ during Load-Shedding periods – since there is NO Electricity Connection to CoCT during that period. QUERY-1. – ONE LARGE SYSTEM COVERING ALL 40-UNITS 6. Is it feasible to install “ONE LARGE” Battery Back-Up system sufficient to provide (being the equivalent of a single 5kwh Inverter Battery Back-up to each Unit)? 7. Is there a system which would prevent the ‘tripping’ of such a System if a Resident turns-on a high-power usage Appliance e.g. Kettle, Electric Heater, etc., and shutting-down the entire electricity supply to the whole Complex? QUERY-2. – INDIVIDUAL SYSTEM FOR EACH UNIT 8. Is it more feasible/more economical, to install individual 5kwh Inverter/Battery Back-up installations to each Unit? 9. Initially (Phase 1 of the Project) we would be looking at installing individual Inverter/Battery Back-up – without Solar Panels, i.e. each Unit would be ‘harvesting’ Back-up energy from the CoCT – we are aware that there is a current ’back-log’ of supply of Solar Panels of approx. 12-months, but we need an interim solution to the Load-Shedding. 10. Subsequently (i.e. Phase 2 of the Project), we would advance to installing individual Solar Panels to each Unit to harvest energy into their existing Battery Back-up systems. 11. There would /could possibly be facility for further ‘harvesting’ of this ‘now-extended Solar power’ for supply to CoCT – after the individual Battery-Back-ups were fully charged (?). FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS 12. We are living in a Retirement Village with elderly Residents. 13. We would not wish to have a variety of different Inverter/Battery Back-up systems. 14. We cannot expect our elderly Residents to be subjected to ‘poorly reasoned’ Inverter Battery Back-up systems. 15. ‘We’ would require systems which are well-designed for our particular requirement(s), and well-serviced’ by a reputable Contractor. I have taken the opportunity to ‘ask advice’ from the Solar Forum, in the hope that I can be able to supply well-reasoned/well -researched written advice. Best Regards Keith Fawcett [email protected] (Retired ‘Scientist’ – 80-yrs old in September 2023)