Hi everyone

I have never had any type of solar before but I am familar with the technology and inverters etc. I am also very hands on and can DIY with a very good understanding of electronics, electricity, safety, fixing things so with that out of the way here it goes :

• obejective is to save money long term ( I dont mind if it takes 4 years or so to make up my initial outlay but I want to save ) and keep myself busy for a few days as I am abit bored weekends

• I am not doing this to save the environment, the goal is to save money long term, even if is is R200 a month or whatever after a few years

• Family of 4, we use around R1200 elec per month, based in CT. Already have a geyser timer set for an hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. My wife will really crap me out if the water is cold in the morning so this is a big/major concern. She is the only one who showers in the morning hence the 1 hour in the morning

• Connecting to the DB box is out of the quesion ( since I am going to DIY and Compliance issues etc )

I have read up converting the exisitng geyser to one of those that uses solar panels to generate the power to heat the water. It seems like you need to take out your old element and thermostat and replace it with the stuff in the kit. I am open to this but I am not sure if my current geyser will work with this. I am sure I can do this job including the solar panels myself with some help with a labourer to get on the roof to install panels.

I also have 2 spare 105A batteries lying around from loadshedding days but not sure how healthly they are. Any suggestions would be welcome ( tell my if you think I should just abandon this project. ) Remember the goal is to save money long term and I will be really mad at myself I dont make up the 15k ( lets say 10k for now ) after a couple of years. I am very conscious about saving money and really enjoy DIY. I am not really willing to risk more money alot of money since load shedding is no longer a factor. Thank you

23 minutes ago, Lucang said:

Hi everyone

I have never had any type of solar before but I am familar with the technology and inverters etc. I am also very hands on and can DIY with a very good understanding of electronics, electricity, safety, fixing things so with that out of the way here it goes :

• obejective is to save money long term ( I dont mind if it takes 4 years or so to make up my initial outlay but I want to save ) and keep myself busy for a few days as I am abit bored weekends

• I am not doing this to save the environment, the goal is to save money long term, even if is is R200 a month or whatever after a few years

• Family of 4, we use around R1200 elec per month, based in CT. Already have a geyser timer set for an hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. My wife will really crap me out if the water is cold in the morning so this is a big/major concern. She is the only one who showers in the morning hence the 1 hour in the morning

• Connecting to the DB box is out of the quesion ( since I am going to DIY and Compliance issues etc )

I have read up converting the exisitng geyser to one of those that uses solar panels to generate the power to heat the water. It seems like you need to take out your old element and thermostat and replace it with the stuff in the kit. I am open to this but I am not sure if my current geyser will work with this. I am sure I can do this job including the solar panels myself with some help with a labourer to get on the roof to install panels.

I also have 2 spare 105A batteries lying around from loadshedding days but not sure how healthly they are. Any suggestions would be welcome ( tell my if you think I should just abandon this project. ) Remember the goal is to save money long term and I will be really mad at myself I dont make up the 15k ( lets say 10k for now ) after a couple of years. I am very conscious about saving money and really enjoy DIY. I am not really willing to risk more money alot of money since load shedding is no longer a factor. Thank you

At this point, I think Geysertech guys should start paying me for the free marketing I am giving them.

15k won't get you any useful solar system (inverter, batteries, etc), you want to save money, then just sort out the geyser with a Geysertech controller. No need for DIY, just get a qualified installer to do it for you. No need to change the element, geyser or any hardware. Just a cable to the DB to connect to the existing cables.

I DIYed mine for 9.5k, just patching up my panel earthing with earth clamps for the COC, which will be some 1.2k. For 15k, I think you can call someone who can install and COC it for you. My panels were 3.5k for 4x340W panels. Controller was 2.7k (I see it is now 3.1k), cabling, breakers, solar mounting hardware etc, was the remaining cost.

No issues with water heating, it is always hot. And the install was incredibly basic and simple. Far better than Geyserwise, which uses fancy elements and requires modifications.

Edited October 16, 2025Oct 16 by Denns