So I am new in everything, I would like to convert my home to solar, its a 3 bedroom, and 2x 1 bedroom flat, then I want to install a water tank with a solar pressure pump for water supply if I do not find a borehole on my premises, I have an electrical stove and oven that I would like to keep, if gas gets to expensive, my geyser must be solar system as well, my pool pump must be converted to solar aswell.

So my question is how do I work out( formula) what I will need and where to look for the products and how would I know who is a chance taker or a daylight robber?

11 minutes ago, AJ110 said:

So my question is how do I work out( formula) what I will need

First Try determine your usage loads and patterns.
If you do not have access to a ct meter to measure your usage then at least check your electric bill for your daily usage averaged over a year at least.
Determine the usage of your high wattage appliance ( geyser, stove, poolpump, microwave, hair-drier etc )
See how much of your loads/usage you can shift to the middle 6 hours of daylight

Based of your results/determinations from above you can start matching solutions to that.
If budget is a constraint then determine how to implement in stages to build up the system
If no budget constraints then go for the maximum to cover all your loads from above determination.

11 minutes ago, AJ110 said:

what I will need and where to look for the products and how would I know who is a chance taker or a daylight robber?

Ask for referrals, there are so many dodgy suppliers and installers out there, be careful and if not sure come along here and ask

On this forum you will find many people giving very good advice freely so make use of that.

Going solar is a journey and a lifestyle change 🥰

Edited October 7, 20232 yr by WannabeSolarSparky

Lots of posts if you search the forum about how to go about it. Re-hashing some of it here, more questions than answers. Just for orientation at start, need more info.

The starting point is to have a very good understanding of your energy usage pattern, and a clear notion of what you want your system to be able to do to meet some or all of your needs. Are you more interested in saving money, or protection against loadshedding, or going fully off-grid?

First question: How much electricity does your house typically use over a period, say per month, or daily average and how does this differ from summer to Winter. State it in units, or Kilowatt-hours. This will help you determine how much you need in terms of solar panels. One Kilowatt of panels typically generates 5kWh of electricity per day on average depending on location and time of the year.

Next question: What is the peak power in kiloWatt that you use at any one time. Usually mornings and early evenings see the highest usage. In this case you are talking about three households, one main house and two flats making breakfast possibly at the same time. Do they have separate geysers? Best might be to actually start with an electricity meter like a Kill-a-Watt, etc to monitor who is doing what at what time. This will help you to choose the ideal size of inverter(s?) and battery size and type. Around a 5kW inverter for a small household is where you should start looking, but a big property might need something like 8-10kW or upwards of instant power. For batteries, around 10-15 kWh of storage is reasonable for most homes, but you may need more if flats are involved, it depends on your usage, and again, if you want to go big off-grid or if budget is constrained, maybe less. If you can run your loads during the day on solar, you may need fewer batteries. It all depends, and you need to provide more info. Do you need to provide power for all the flats? Are these unrelated tenants or family?

It would help to know from the ground up the power consumption of the appliances you intend running. Do you want to power an existing geyser from solar electric panels, or do you want to install solar water heating panels?

Where are you based? If you are in Cape Town, that will immediately limit you to grid-tied inverters that are on the city's approved list, or else you must go off-grid. You need to decide which of these types you want anyway, and grid-tied hybrids are often a simple good choice regardless.

Do you have space to mount panels? Rooftop that faces North, without risk of shading from trees or chimneys? Don't let anyone quote you without doing some form of site inspection even if it's just Google Earth, and asking detailed questions about your requirements. A safer route might be to go with installers recommended by the retail store you use.