Let’s first warn sensitive readers that we will be using two South African swear words extensively in this article: Eskom and Loadshedding.
If you have a weak heart or are prone to uncontrolled bursts of anger when things go wrong then please move on and read gentler tomes such as War and Peace or watch a particularly violent World War movie…
“With the advent/promise of continued loadshedding by Eskom for the forseeable future, let’s just say it outright – the solution to an infrastructural problems normally takes at least as long as the problem has existed to fix – if ever,” says Straton Solar.
Our loadshedding crisis began in late 2007 when South Africa experienced rolling blackouts. Eskom, in early 2008, introduced load-shedding to “protect the integrity of the grid”. This, after in 2007, Eskom warned that, over the next five or six years, the system would be constrained and called for a collaborative effort from all stakeholders to minimise the likelihood of power interruptions.
And here we are 15 years later and the situation has become even more dire. So, we could conceivably expect to suffer this crisis for another 15 years whilst solutions are sought to end loadshedding.
Now in 2023 we are, on certain days, subject to three bouts of loadshedding in a 24 hour period and, if those occur in periods when Solar PV production is lowest – evening to early morning then the backup power that we have available struggles to keep up and stay charged.
“Effectively, we have moved from a situation where a solar installation could cope with a 2.5 kW Lion battery for those infrequent times we found ourselves without power, to a situation where a 5 kW Lion Battery is enough to cope. BUT if those dreaded three bouts of loadshedding increase a much higher battery storage capacity of around 10 kWh will be needed,” says Straton Solar. *
“Of course we have many clients who do NOT have to upgrade their systems – the ones with enough foresight to have installed 14 kW Powerwalls from Tesla,” says Straton.
In most municipalities the sweet spot installation was a 5K Inverter, a 2.5 kWh Lion Battery and 5 kW’s of Solar PV panels. Now the demand has gone one further and Straton Solar have developed a turnkey standard system price for a 5 kW inverter, a 5 kWh Lion Batteries and 5 kW of Solar Panels – hence the 5×5 Product Name.
Straton Solar are offering clients in the Nelson Mandela Bay area the complete supply and installation their 5×5 Package which consists of: a Sunsynk Sun 5.5k Hybrid inverter, Earth Neutral Bridge for AC Protection, 10 x Tier 1 545W PV Panels, all Aluminium Mounting Structure, PV String wiring, connectors including surge protection and earthing, Battery disconnect fuse switch, LFP Wall Mount Sunsynk Battery 5.32 kWh 51.2V, AC installation for single phase hybrid inverter including surge protection (3kW to 6kW), Certificate of Compliance and completion of smart meter application forms all for R172 467.93 including VAT (Terms and Conditions Apply). Payment Terms are 20% with order, 60% of the total on the day that equipment is delivered and the balance on completion. Standard warranties apply and remote access and monitoring is included. **
* Consider that the average household in South Africa consumes 960 kWh of electricity per month – that is equal to 1.33 units per hour (obviously more in the peak periods for cooking and washing and lighting and less in the day when no-one is at home). Should you be unlucky enough to be loadshed from 6 to 8:30 pm and again in the early hours of the morning from 6 to 8:30 am then those 5 hours could represent 6.66 units of electricity which, will drain a 5 kWh battery. So, if you need longer times with electricity you may need to add another 5.32 kWh LFP battery or just bite the bullet and install a Tesla Powerwall.
** The 5×5 Package is also available for smaller businesses who could secure a positive ROI on the system from Day 1 if they utilise Section 12B of the Income Tax which allows for a 100% depreciation allowance on any renewable energy installation from day of commissioning.
If you are in Cape Town and wishing to sell back into the grid then you will do well to consider doubling up on the size of your inverter and panels. The rule of thumb for almost zeroing your consumption account is that for every 900 units of on site electricity consumption you will need a 5K inverter and panels. Double that consumption will mean doubling the installation size and so on.
The 5×5 Sunsynk Solar Hybrid Package and Installation from Straton Solar. Photo: Straton Solar