Solar Porn

Back in 2016 I decided to install solar at my home in Marina Da Gamma. At the time I knew very little about solar but forged ahead to become as energy independent as possible.

My setup included:

12 X 250w Solar Panels
16 X 200AH Lead Acid Batteries
A 4.5Kwh inverter (Burstable to 5kW/h)

I connected everything to the inverter and opted for a structured process as to when items were to run.

My process was as follows:

• I made sure all my appliances were very efficient (i.e. Fridge 80w), efficient bulbs etc. Gas stove...

• Geysers were programmed to a temperature (55) and given a slot to heat up during the day. One at 6am the other at 11am. The idea here is to have known times to shower/bath and to set the timing accordingly.

• To supplement geysers I added a solar geyser.

• I put a meter in the kitchen which tracks what the current energy usage is so that we do not mistakenly go over 4.5Kw which will trip the solar.

Inverter
The inverter has stood the test of time, it cost less than 10K and is basically 4.5kW/h burstable to 5kW/h, this is part of the reason I was caeful of the timing since I wanted to run everything off the inverter... kettles, geysers, pumps etc! While the inverter can more than handle each item individually, the problem comes when you try and run them all at once.
Issues I have experienced over the past 6 years:

• I have had to replace a circuit breaker twice (they take a hammering)

Efficiency: During the summer, the setup is highly efficient, we barely use Eskom. During winter times, there are days/weeks which are perpetually overcast and during this time we will flip flop to Eskom. While this was not true in the beginning, the household has swelled at its peak to 7 people on site so it took a bit of strain!

I am quite surprised at the batteries which have kept going strong and never faulted. They are currently being moved to our factory as my house is currently being renovated. My plan there is to build a solar car port to give us power.
Batteries had to be delivered by truck! At 70Kg each, they are quite heavy!
Wind Turbine Madness!

In addition I also bought a 3.6kW/h wind turbine which I soon realised would not be practical installing since each blade was 1.8m long and my neighbours would likely have taken exception to it!