Do you feel validated?

[phidz]

With this bout of load shedding do you feel validated about your solar/backup installation?

[MdF]

Absolutely.

Yes, the financial layout was a hard pill to swallow in the first few weeks back in July, but with this latest round of loadshedding, it has been the best investment we made to the house. And not to mention the ability to continue "living" when the grid goes down.

All I can say to those who are thinking about doing this or are hesitant to make the investment, try and make a plan to go for it. You certainly won't regret the feeling of "freedom" you get when you watch solar powering your house during the day and batteries powering your house at night.

[Guest Sarel]

Priorities, plain and simple. Get em straight.... For me absolutely, and my system was kinda pricy  and took a few years of savings to be able to do, priorities see.

[Antonio de Sa]

My system it's only been installed just over a month ago. I have to fully agree with the above responses, I would like to add that over and above the fact that one is no longer affected by eishkom load shedding, the tremendous savings in ones electricity bill, in my case from an average consumption of 24 KW per day to an average of 5 KWH at R 2,50 per KWH = a savings of +_ R30/day X 365 = 10 K per year.  See the stats of my system in the last month, solar generated 495 KWH power from grid 136 KWH, even in a day like yesterday raining and overcast I still managed to get 11 KWH 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Antonio de Sa

[phidz]

I usually suffer from buyer's remorse every time i buy something. I have had my system for about 6 months now and can't think of a better purchase that i have made. From my calculations it will take about 6 years for the system to pay itself. Not mentioning the convenience as well... 

[isetech]

The EV market is about to take off ... solar systems will become an important component of your electrical installation. 

That is why I am spending so much time doing research into solar systems ... I need to understand everything about it ... so that I can design a system which can expand with my budget. 

I keep hearing the same ol same ol ... sorry we cant upgrade your system it has to be completely replaced. 

[Guest Sarel]

19 minutes ago, isetech said:

The EV market is about to take off ... solar systems will become an important component of your electrical installation

Are you referring about local EVs take off in SA? On one thing I agree, Solar good! 

[isetech]

 

3 minutes ago, Sarel said:

Are you referring about local EVs take off in SA? On one thing I agree, Solar good! 

Yes EV's ... hopefully in the next 2 years ... from what I understand ... within 5 years they should be cheaper than ICE vehicles. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by isetech

[BritishRacingGreen]

The Gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the time spent on  harvesting energy from the Sun.

Edited November 9, 2021 by dropkick

[Guest Sarel]

6 minutes ago, isetech said:

Yes EV's ... hopefully in the next 2 years ... from what I understand ... within 5 years they should be cheaper than ICE vehicles

In the South African market?

[isetech]

1 minute ago, Sarel said:

In the South African market?

there is talk of it happening ... if it will actually happen in SA ... well lets wait and see ... it is better to be prepared than sit with your pants around your ankles.

I am preparing for it to happen ... there is going to be such a huge demand for EV chargers and sparkies to install them ... as I watch skilled sparkies leaving by the week. 

I made the mistake of thinking people didnt have money to splash out on solar system ... now I have to play catchup ... most of my customer have already installed solar ... and I am still learning to install them  ... and trying to find installers who know what they are doing ... who wont break all the tiles on the roof ... use the correct equipment and safety gear ... chargers will be a lot easier. 

 

 

[Guest Sarel]

Last year a grand total of, wait for it, 92 EV's were sold locally. Almost all of em are north of R1 Million. No Teslas locally.... 

Have you read this thread on here yet: Just have a think, ICE cars and power generation?

[Guest Sarel]

And I think Tesla may very well just suffer the same fate as Starlink from Spacex

"ICASA previously told MyBroadband that it had held discussions with SpaceX, but that the company still needed to apply for an Individual Electronic Communications Network Service (I-ECNS) and Individual Electronics Communications Service (I-ECS) license to provide its satellite-based broadband Internet locally.

In addition, it would have to acquire a Radio Frequency Spectrum licence to allow for Starlink to communicate on specified frequency spectrum bands for satellite broadband services.

There is one major problem, however.

ICASA recently published new regulations which require all telecoms licensees in the country – including ISPs – to have black owners.

“An Individual Licensee must have a minimum of 30% of its ownership equity held by black people, determined using the flow through principle,” the regulations stated.

In addition, individual licensees must have a minimum of 30% of its ownership equity held by historically disadvantaged groups, which include black people, women, people with disabilities, and youth.

“An Individual Licensee must comply with both the black equity requirement and the HDG equity requirement,” ICASA said.

Furthermore, both individual licensees and class licensees must have a minimum B-BBEE contributor status of level 4.

MyBroadband asked ICASA whether SpaceX would have to meet these new rules, given that it was a US company and not required to implement such measures under that country’s laws.

The Authority said that any new applications for ECS and ECNS licences would not be considered if the company does not meet the new black equity requirement.

According to ICASA’s latest update, SpaceX has not applied for these licences yet.

Therefore, if it does not have 30% black ownership, it would not be able to acquire the necessary regulatory approval and spectrum to offer Starlink services in South Africa."

[Raj35]

3 hours ago, phidz said:

With this bout of load shedding do you feel validated about your solar/backup installation?

For me Most definitely I think money well spent just my 2cents we come home after 7pm lights are on when loadshedding at 8pm we can use thee wifi my kid watches TV and my wife's happy because she can have that coffee after a long day at working and also a hot meal but it's ones choice a financial decision.

[Bobster.]

5 hours ago, phidz said:

With this bout of load shedding do you feel validated about your solar/backup installation?

Yes. But I am still angry. I go out exercising in the mornings and see all the small businesses that can't operate. I see the increased chaos on the roads. I wonder what the schools are doing to cope. 

So my lights and TV and etc stay on, and I can be blasé but this mess is costing this country big time, and that is pushing the cost of living up for everybody.

I also note increasing problems with sub stations failing when the juice is turned back on. My parents went without electricity for 12 hours yesterday. A friend ticked over the 24 hour mark today.

It's not good. How are people supposed to do their jobs and look after their families?

[Tim003]

I like this thread, it motivates some of us who are still upcoming in this journey. Keep them coming. 

[isetech]

3 hours ago, Sarel said:

In the South African market?

The deal was confirmed at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow. It will see wealthier nations mobilising an initial $8.5-billion (R131 billion) over three to five years in the form of range of instruments, including grants and highly concessional finance.

The concessional finance that will be mobilised through the deal will accelerate investment in renewable energy and the development of new sectors such as electric vehicles and green hydrogen, Ramaphosa said.

 

I read somewhere that the battery patent has ended (October 2021) ... which opens the market for the Chinese to start exporting vehicles (already on 3 rd generation vehicles like the Tesla) ... which  apparently already started as of the 1 November ... but hey its all internet based information ... seeing is believing ... I am hopeful ... watching family and friends leaving for a better future in other countries by the day  ... is draining ... the desire to stay here by the day ... I have never been one to want to leave ... even though I can close my business ... sell everything and move to the UK tomorrow live with family already settled ... and get my British passport. 

lets hope something changes sooner than later. 

[PowerUser]

Nope, I don't feel validated and all. And in my opinion this is such a self-serving question to ask...!

Maybe I'll feel validated and 10 odd years, if the system lives up to it's expectations without faults, manage to finally pay for itself and save some money from the electricity bills.

[phidz]

41 minutes ago, PowerUser said:

Nope, I don't feel validated and all. And in my opinion this is such a self-serving question to ask...!

I'm a bit confused about your response, by validated i just mean that do you feel that the purchase was worth your money. Saving money in the long run is the ultimate goal but the convenience during load shedding is a huge plus for me. 

[DeepBass9]

Maybe validated is not the word, but after 6 years off grid, with the cost and hassle of installing the system long forgotten, I am quite happy!

Eskom seems to be going from bad to worse, so I think the prospect of a grid collapse where the whole country is off for a week is on the cards. Imagine that chaos. A week of highveld thunderstorms with wet coal might be the straw that breaks the camels back.

[Sc00bs]

17 hours ago, Antonio de Sa said:

My system it's only been installed just over a month ago. I have to fully agree with the above responses, I would like to add that over and above the fact that one is no longer affected by eishkom load shedding, the tremendous savings in ones electricity bill, in my case from an average consumption of 24 KW per day to an average of 5 KWH at R 2,50 per KWH = a savings of +_ R30/day X 365 = 10 K per year.  See the stats of my system in the last month, solar generated 495 KWH power from grid 136 KWH, even in a day like yesterday raining and overcast I still managed to get 11 KWH 

Love your Dash @Antonio de Sa any chance you can share it? 

[Guest Sarel]

1 hour ago, DeepBass9 said:

Eskom seems to be going from bad to worse, so I think the prospect of a grid collapse where the whole country is off for a week is on the cards. Imagine that chaos. A week of highveld thunderstorms with wet coal might be the straw that breaks the camels back.

I have some background on Eskom, consulted to them for a period of 10 Years with almost 100% of my time on site. If or we have a grid collapse, total and utter chaos. All the generation units will go off line on a trip. Trip here is a euphemism for big ass fuses blown, and I mean BIG. And that is not the only damage you can expect. Do they even have spares for some of the plant, who knows. With the rate of warehouses of spares sold off by Eskom plant managers, (to look good on making targets and performance KPIs) chances are not.

Also, if a few Transformers go belly up, we have a real serious problem on our hands. Lots of the switching equipment and transformers are not stock items, to be manufactured on order. We are not talking a week off grid, we are talking months before every grid connection and generating unit are back online. You may have heard of black start of a power station. It may take a few days or a week or so to get the first one online. Then you need to get the second generator in sync and online. Then add some load and then on to nr3 etc etc. It is more or less a serial process and just the syncing part can take some time.

The utter chaos will be unlike anything we have ever seen. Lets say it takes 2 weeks, best case, to get 80% of the grid back. We will run out of water, fuel, food etc.

[DeepBass9]

1 hour ago, Sarel said:

I have some background on Eskom, consulted to them for a period of 10 Years with almost 100% of my time on site. If or we have a grid collapse, total and utter chaos. All the generation units will go off line on a trip. Trip here is a euphemism for big ass fuses blown, and I mean BIG. And that is not the only damage you can expect. Do they even have spares for some of the plant, who knows. With the rate of warehouses of spares sold off by Eskom plant managers, (to look good on making targets and performance KPIs) chances are not.

Also, if a few Transformers go belly up, we have a real serious problem on our hands. Lots of the switching equipment and transformers are not stock items, to be manufactured on order. We are not talking a week off grid, we are talking months before every grid connection and generating unit are back online. You may have heard of black start of a power station. It may take a few days or a week or so to get the first one online. Then you need to get the second generator in sync and online. Then add some load and then on to nr3 etc etc. It is more or less a serial process and just the syncing part can take some time.

The utter chaos will be unlike anything we have ever seen. Lets say it takes 2 weeks, best case, to get 80% of the grid back. We will run out of water, fuel, food etc.

Scary stuff. 

[Antonio de Sa]

1 hour ago, Sarel said:

I have some background on Eskom, consulted to them for a period of 10 Years with almost 100% of my time on site. If or we have a grid collapse, total and utter chaos. All the generation units will go off line on a trip. Trip here is a euphemism for big ass fuses blown, and I mean BIG. And that is not the only damage you can expect. Do they even have spares for some of the plant, who knows. With the rate of warehouses of spares sold off by Eskom plant managers, (to look good on making targets and performance KPIs) chances are not.

Also, if a few Transformers go belly up, we have a real serious problem on our hands. Lots of the switching equipment and transformers are not stock items, to be manufactured on order. We are not talking a week off grid, we are talking months before every grid connection and generating unit are back online. You may have heard of black start of a power station. It may take a few days or a week or so to get the first one online. Then you need to get the second generator in sync and online. Then add some load and then on to nr3 etc etc. It is more or less a serial process and just the syncing part can take some time.

The utter chaos will be unlike anything we have ever seen. Lets say it takes 2 weeks, best case, to get 80% of the grid back. We will run out of water, fuel, food etc.

@Sarel Like you I worked for many years in Eskom power stations. Usually it takes +_ 12 to start a  600 MW unit from cold start to synchronize to grid,  if we have an entire black out will take +_ a week to restore the system back to full capacity.  Eskom will have to use power from Cabora Bassa as well as the small hydro station to start one or maybe two units a a time,  I've installed DCS systems on boilers and turbines, Also installed Systems that allowed the grid control room to remotely ramp load up or down, that was many years ago when Eskom personnel were highly qualified, I'm talking from operators level to the engineering level, performance monitoring was done in every unit at least twice a day,  there were mid term inspections done on the boilers and turbines every two years and a general unit shut down every 4 year for a full maintenance.

There was always highly qualified welders and pipe fitter on stand by to repair tube leaks. I wonder if all this still in place????

[Guest Sarel]

1 minute ago, Antonio de Sa said:

I wonder if all this still in place????

Man, I don't know how long ago you were there. Most of the staff from 8-10 years ago left. My last bit was about 5 years ago there. At that time, only 1 plant had black start capability, with the exception of maybe Koeberg. Now they added Medupi, don't know about Kusile. The time to start and sync a few units, then maybe 2 more and again, add some load, wait to stabilise at 50hz, and so on and again....

1 Week is in my opinion, I have been wrong before, not enough, maybe 2 weeks but I am shooting for more like a month. You get say 4 units online, then try 5 and 6. They trip or something goes wrong. Now that alone may take a few days or a week to fault find, let alone repair, and only if you have parts in hand....