We are 90%+ OFF the Electricity Grid

Intro – We are 90%+ OFF the Electricity Grid

We are basically off the grid. Our household is now off the electricity grid for all the lights* (indoor as well as outdoor lights); fridge, freezer, WiFi and the desktop computer (which means we don’t need electricity from the municipality for the internet, WhatsApp, etc…) and the gate motor.

Note: a few months ago we changed all indoor lights to LED lights including the neon lights. Outdoors, we use solar flood lights.

The only electricity from the grid that we are still using is for the microwave, kettle and toaster (seldom made use of).

The Deteriorating Electricity Supply in South Africa – Electricity in SA is more OFF than ON

Electricity supply in South Africa has been deteriorating over the past few years. SA electricity is more off than on: SA has experienced almost 300 days without electricity in 2023 so far. According to the EskomSePush app, South Africa has had 6,894 hours of national load shedding (power outages).

To compound the difficulties substations get vandalized and/ or burned down. Last week for 5 days we had no electricity. For our household the implications were: no… and here comes the long list: no fridge, freezer, lights, desktop, WiFi, internet, WhatsApp, no landline phone and no mobile phone either because we could not recharge the phones… Thankfully we have very helpful neighbours who have been on solar for a while.

The Solar System Installed

The following solar system was installed:

• 3.2 Kw Inverter
• 3 Kw lithium battery
• 1,1 Kw solar panels – 3 solar panels (360W each) with the option to install more in the future should the need arise.

Jason did the Installation

Jason Adriaanzen did the turnkey installation. Jason is a competent electrician and he has done work for us in the past.

Jason is on WhatsApp: 082 521 7548.

Cost of the Entire Project – We are 90%+ OFF the Electricity Grid

R26,000.00. This includes the equipment and labour.

We had received a total of 3 quotes: one company quoted R45,000.00 and another R60,000.00. Jason quoted R26,000.00. Jason has done quality work in the past so we decided to continue with Jason.

Photo Gallery – We are 90%+ OFF the Electricity Grid

Conclusion

The objective to go the solar route was to:

• not be affected by power outages
• reduce the electricity bill.

We hope to be on the road to achieving this.