FAQs

How does solar power work?

Solar panels: We install solar panels (PV Panels) on your roof that generate power when exposed to sunlight. Solar panel rails and fittings are used that fit under your roof tiles and are fixed to the roof structure directly.

Inverter: This energy is sent to a solar inverter (off grid or hybrid). The inverter is the brain of the system and uses the solar energy to run loads (appliances, lights, equipment, etc), charge up the battery bank and/or supply power to non-solar connected loads or feed power back into the grid (If allowed by your complex or municipality). The inverter also changes over automatically when load shedding happens to enable you to keep everything running from PV and battery power alone.

Battery bank: The energy stored in the battery bank (lithium or gel) is mostly used at night to run night loads. The batteries can also be used to supply power during power outages (load shedding) or on overcast days. When the battery bank is depleted the system automatically switches over and runs loads from the municipal/Eskom/grid power supply.

Balance of system: Various other components and consumables are used to put the system together and make it work effectively. These include: mounting structures, cabling, wiring, AC circuit breakers, DC circuit breakers, battery switch gear, trunking, conduit, etc.

Monitoring system: Most solar inverters come with build in monitoring systems that can be accessed from an app or online portal.

How do you size/design a solar power system?

We need some basic information from you to be able to design a solar system:

Solar panel bank: How much energy do you use on average per month (kWh per month or Rand per month)?

You can get this info from your electricity bills. The more energy you use per month the bigger the solar panel bank has to be to supply you with the same amount of energy that you would have gotten from the grid. E.g. 1 x 455 watt solar panel would generate about 70 kWh per month.

Inverter: What loads (appliances, lights, equipment, etc) do you want to run on the system? Do you have any 3 phase equipment (pumps, aircons, machinery, etc) running?

The more loads you want to run the bigger the inverter capacity has to be. If you just want to run basic loads (light, TV, Fridges, Internet, kitchen appliances, etc) the entry level inverter we recommend is a 5kVa machine. If you want to run elements (geyser, stove, heaters, etc) from the inverter it has to be sized even bigger (8 to 16 kVa).

In case you have 3 phase equipment you can either leave it on the grid or run it using a 3 phase inverter configuration.

Battery bank: What loads do you usually run at night? What do you want to be able to have running when there is load shedding/power outages?

The lithium battery bank size is determined by your night load and/or energy requirements during load shedding. The more energy you use the bigger the battery bank has to be.

What warranties/guarantees do you give on equipment and workmanship?

All the equipment we sell come with supplier warranties. They are as follows:

Solar Panels: 10/12 years on the product. 25 years on energy output.

Inverters: 5 years. Some are extendable up to 20 years.

Gel Batteries: 2/3 years.

Lithium batteries: Most are 10 years. Some are 5 years.

Workmanship: 2 years

What is the lifespan of solar equipment?

All the equipment we sell are known brand, Tier 1 rated, that we have meticulously tested and selected for durability and quality. The lifespans are as follows:

Solar Panels: Guaranteed to give you 80% of initial energy output (name plate) after 25 years. They will last longer than that.

Inverters: Inverters have a design life of 10+ years. If you have the appropriate surge protection, breakers, cabling and earthing done it does also extend the system life. We include these as standard on our installations.

Lithium batteries: A good lithium battery has 6000 cycles. That's the number of times the battery can be charged up and discharged. So if you cycle your battery bank once per day it would give you 16 years of life.

Gel Batteries: We don't deal in a lot of gel batteries anymore. But a typical gel battery would have between 600 and 1800 cycles. This means you can expect between 1.5 and 5 years of service life from a gel battery.

Can you finance a solar energy system?

You definitely can because let's face it, solar is expensive but it has become a bit of a necessity. The upside is that you start saving money on your electricity bills immediately when you install your solar system. And it only keeps getting better when the yearly Eskom and Municipal rate increases come into play.

There are 2 ways to finance your solar system. The first is to do a rent to own option where you basically rent the system for a period and then pay one additional installment and the system becomes yours. Our finance partners handle the whole application process on your behalf and submit the application to 16 different financial institutions to get the best deal they can for you.

The second option is to do a bond extension on your existing home loan. This makes sense because your monthly repayment is lower and the solar system is an add on as well as a value add to your house. If you want to sell your home in future it just adds to the appeal for new buyers.