Cost of Solar Power

[Guest]

From the University of Stellenbosch, a brochure on Solar and the decisions and costs around it.

To note, per the pictures, they are using SMA as a bencmark for 10 years inverter life.

Interesting to note: 

As a guideline, the price of an installed PV system, including panels, inverter and cables (no batteries) ranges between R 18/W and R 25/W. For example: a 3 kW installation will cost between R 54 000 and R 75 000 (VAT incl.).

A system with batteries is likely to range between R 36/W and R 50/W; thus for a 3 kW system expect to pay between R 108 000 and R 150 000 (VAT incl.).

http://www.savingelectricity.org.za/pdf/univ_of_stellenbosch_pv_brochure_2015.pdf

[DeepBass9]

Sounds about right. Give that man an MBA.

[Haggers]

Hi, just as a guide. is it correct that batteries cost you 54k and the inverter/panels 54k ? is that like a 900ah trojan battery bank?

 

Regards

[SilverNodashi]

10 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

From the University of Stellenbosch, a brochure on Solar and the decisions and costs around it.

To note, per the pictures, they are using SMA as a bencmark for 10 years inverter life.

Interesting to note: 

As a guideline, the price of an installed PV system, including panels, inverter and cables (no batteries) ranges between R 18/W and R 25/W. For example: a 3 kW installation will cost between R 54 000 and R 75 000 (VAT incl.).

A system with batteries is likely to range between R 36/W and R 50/W; thus for a 3 kW system expect to pay between R 108 000 and R 150 000 (VAT incl.).

http://www.savingelectricity.org.za/pdf/univ_of_stellenbosch_pv_brochure_2015.pdf

A potential client of mine wanted to get a loan from the bank for a 3Kw solar system, with 12x 255W panels, Axpert inverter and 400Ah battery bank. The quote was aprox R100k, but the bank rejected it and said a 3KW system should cost no more than R60K. Installed. I guess we're still too expensive then...

[DeepBass9]

He should have asked the bank to source it for him then, because that is way too cheap. Probably crappy components. Sound weird though. Why does the bank care what it costs? If you want to buy a BMW will they tell you to buy a scooter instead?

[SilverNodashi]

18 minutes ago, DeepBass9 said:

He should have asked the bank to source it for him then, because that is way too cheap. Probably crappy components. Sound weird though. Why does the bank care what it costs? If you want to buy a BMW will they tell you to buy a scooter instead?

I know... but this is a "green initiative. Some banks will give 1 year interest free loan for solar or other green energy projects. And I think this is where the ball dropped. The lady at the bank probably went onto the interwebs and googled "3kw solar price" and got some basic kits. I could also sell him a kit for R60k, but then it would probably only be inverters, panels and batteries. No cables. No fuses. No combiner boxes. No isolators. No installation. And no consultation, so the client won't even know if it's 1) big enough for his needs, and 2) will fit on his roof.

[___]

4 hours ago, SilverNodashi said:

Some banks will give 1 year interest free loan for solar or other green energy projects.

I hear about this all the time, but whenever I really look into it I see they want to charge me an interest rate that's about the same as my credit card.

Might as well buy it on the card then -- maybe on budget -- no need to even apply for credit I already have.

:-)