Why Solar and How it Works
Many homeowners are installing solar power systems to reduce their reliance on Eskom, lower their electricity bills, and make their homes more environmentally friendly. Most electricity in a home is used in the early mornings and evenings and not during the day when solar power production is at its maximum.
For this reason, we recommend using an off-grid or hybrid system with lithium battery storage to store solar power generated during the day and make use of all this stored energy to power your household lighting and appliances at night.
How it Works
Solar panels collect energy from the sun and convert it into electricity which is sent to the inverter. The inverter is one of the most important components of a solar power system and has two very important functions. It takes the electricity from the solar panels and charges the batteries as well as converts the DC from the batteries and solar panels into 230V AC. The AC electricity is then fed into your home to power your lighting and household appliances. There is no need to change any of your lighting or appliances. Any excess solar power that is not used during the day is used to charge your battery storage system.
The battery storage system supplies power to your inverter at night or when there is insufficient solar power available to satisfy your power needs. The system uses an automatic change over switch to ensure you still have power from Eskom on occasion when there is not enough solar and battery power available. This way you are almost certain to have power available at all times, day and night.
What are the Benefits & Cost of a PV SOLAR SYSTEM
Benefits like Comfort, and security are just a few to mention. The Cost of Solar is much more affordable than might be expected. Solar PV has a range of benefits. Systems focused primarily on savings (grid tied systems) immediately reduce your electricity bill pro rata to the size of the system you install. Back-up systems, which provide during power outages, provide clean, quiet, instant and environmentally friendly electricity when your utility lets you down. Hybrid solutions provide back-up with a measure of savings.
The true benefit of Grid-tie Solar PV (focused on savings) is the fact that you are protected from future Eskom price increases. Any component of your electricity requirement covered by a solar system is in effect hedged against future tariff escalations.
All indications are that South African electricity users are in transition from enjoying the lowest cost of electricity in the world ten years ago to becoming one of the highest payers.
Read more HERE.
