Quintrix

please keep us updated. Who supplied quote , if you don't mind?

Get CBI AStute for geyser and buy a smart WIFI (about R250)plug that can measure usage - this will give you idea of what the different appliances use ( or you can base estimate on specs). Buy or borrow Efergy (or similar) to constantly measure global usage. Study your uasge patterns - make notes of what you do and when throughout day - can you do washing earlier , run pool pump and geyser during sunlight hours -do you need to heat geyser after sunset or is water warm enough if geyser covered with blanket?

Noob as well it sounds admin intensive - this statement says you should rather go for 8kw - 5kw may result inconstant "admin" of loads and family Geyser - put on timers and use your access generation during the mid day to heat geyser(covered in blanket) Battery - not always seen as a cost saving but convenience how much do you want - 10Kw will result in less admin at night But - suggest you get idea of what is using your 1000 units and when and then plan around that how often do you use oven, do you have aircons when - time of day -do you use most units

68kWh per day is fairly high I would start by reducing load, ( not necessarily lifestyle changes) Do you really need all 5 geysers? YES ( I would include them in solar) smaller heating elements in geysers (2kW) / replace lesser used with small gas geyser insulate pipes and geyser blanket ( you have a lot of geysers to feed so protect your gains/heat) gas for cooking LED lights Installing solar while your demand is still fairly high will not remove "the look" as you may not have enough storage and it will just frustrate you. You will in any case start looking at load reduction as soon as your solar is installed. Different approach ( if your budget is truly tight) Get an Efergy and track your consumption and see how much of that you can shift to "sunshine " hours. Only run your geyser for a few hours during the day and see if it is ok. This will give you a better idea of what your needs are/system size required. I would guess at least 20kWh storage

@JoeSlowwhere did you source your components from?

Care to share who did the installation?