We’re on Stage 0 in our neck of the woods.
In 2020 when the first lockdown happened, we saw the chance to go for solar power. Given the option to choose a hybrid system that would continue to rely on Eskom power as a backup, we said no. We went the whole hog and bid goodbye to never-ending tariff hikes.
Now we don’t have Stage 6 load shedding. We have power when we need it. We don’t have the internet during loadshedding because when power fails, so do the satellite masts.
We are in a country area running a guest house and chalets. At one point under Eskom, we were paying R11,000 a month, mostly for a three-phase line rental. We realised it would eventually bankrupt us as Eskom kept raising its tariffs. We saw solar as a no-brainer. The system even- tually cost nearly R300,000, but that’s cheap for an accommodation business.
Over three years, the system will have paid for itself in what we’ve saved. Unfortunately, batteries run a life cycle and will need replacing. Theft of the panels is also a big worry.
Generators provide backup if there isn’t enough sun (we have two engines). That’s expensive with the rising cost of fuel.
We have only 24 solar panels for a guest house, a chalet and our living.
Properly conserved, we get by on the energy; it all comes down to economising on power. You can run washing machines and microwaves, kettles and hairdryers, pool pumps and dishwashers during the day but at night it’s just watching TV on low-consumption flatscreens and using gas.
Computers take very little power. Cell phones and LED lights consume nothing.
We’ve had disgruntled guests who don’t like it when we switch off power between midnight and dawn to save battery power. But most are very good about it, and some show keen interest.
It hasn’t been all that easy to adjust, but at least we control the system and when the sun shines our power is free. When the sun shines? Aye, there’s the rub. Like a banker who lends you an umbrella in good weather but takes it away when it rains, solar is great on sunny days but weak when it clouds over and gets cold. Peak supply and peak demand are opposites.
Still, once you learn to manage the system and make good use of the batteries, you can at least carry on carrying on. My advice to citizens of the failing state we call South Africa is to protect yourselves and go for renew-ables. At night, we often live by torch-light to save the batteries, but when we need to switch on we can. That’s called living within your means. Welcome to the new world.
