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Load shedding: This is how much it will cost to get off the Eskom grid
Load shedding has really put a spanner in the works. You may be working from home or running a business that requires a constant supply of electricity and then unexpectedly load shedding strikes. South Africa has already experienced at least 25 days of load shedding from the beginning of January this year until the end of April. This was four days fewer compared to the same period last year. Read Full article here
SA may have upto 3 months of blackouts this winter
JOHANNESBURG - South Africans could be in for more than three months of power cuts this winter depending on Eskom's generation unit losses.The utility revealed this at a briefing on Tuesday after the country was moved from stage two rolling blackouts to stage four.Colder weather usually comes with an increase in demand as South Africans try to keep warm.But if generation units are lost for whatever reason, it becomes harder for Eskom to keep the lights on. Read full article here
New rules will allow complexes and estates in South Africa to get off Eskom’s grid
The newly-gazetted Electricity Generation Act regulations will allow private individuals and businesses to generate up to 100MW of electricity for their own use without obtaining a licence from the National Electricity Regulator, says Andrew Schaefer, managing director of property management company Trafalgar. Read More
What does it cost to go off the grid?
It will cost around R250,000 to install a power generation and storage system that is sufficient to take a small household off of Eskom’s grid. This is according to Nick Roche, chief product officer at Rubicon, a South African energy company that distributes solutions like Tesla’s Powerwall backup battery system. Many households have grown tired of Eskom’s load-shedding and increasing prices and are looking into ways to power their homes themselves. Read More
You can sell excess solar power back to government
You can sell excess solar power back to govt – but it may take around 7 years to break even Small-scale embedded generators can get around 72 cents for every kilowatt hour pumped back into the grid via a bi-directional electrical meter. These solar power systems cost upwards of R200,000 and can be paid off in seven years by combining savings with municipal feed-in tariffs. But additional monthly charges and the system’s 15-to-25-year lifespan are causes for careful consideration. Energy experts are calling for feed-in tariffs to be increased, to shorten the pay-back time. Read full article here