Conquer load shedding with Kit Builder
As South Africa enters the colder months, load shedding has far from abated. Eskom is still struggling to maintain its power stations and is looking to decommission six coal-fired facilities in the coming months.
As a result, South Africa is likely to see sustained periods of stage four or five load shedding this winter.
A troubling energy outlook
Over 20% of last year was spent offline as Eskom struggled to keep homes and businesses powered around the country. While 2020 was already a challenging year, it seems like 2021 is unlikely to offer much respite.
However, there is a reported excess of 5,000MW of generation capacity that could be unlocked if the current power regulatory framework is reconsidered — even in a minor capacity. Currently, there is a generation licence exemption threshold for grid-tied PV systems and generation projects are unable to sell power to multiple customers. Lifting these restrictions will open up additional generation capacity and help to address the power shortages in South Africa.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently reported that energy systems of the future will (and should) be ‘dominated by clean energy’ by 2050. Thanks to its outstanding wind and solar resources, South Africa is a prime location for renewable energy projects. In fact, renewable energy presents the most cost-effective way of keeping the country powered sufficiently. Investing in ample solar infrastructure that can store energy to dispatch quickly during peak hours will be critical.
Replacing coal with renewable energy sources will also advance South Africa’s global commitments to decarbonise one of the world’s high-carbon intensive economies.
The benefits of battery storage
Energy storage technologies will pave the way for South Africa’s uptake of renewable sources. Storing power for later use is just what the country needs to manage not only the lack of power but also the intermittency of solar energy.
Investing in PV battery systems does not equate to an attempt to take the population
off-grid. Instead of relying on the grid for power and being plunged into darkness during load shedding, homeowners and business owners can instead use the stored power from their battery system that has been collecting any surplus energy from the panels throughout the day. As such, grid back-up systems are a popular choice as they give people the freedom to rely on energy from the grid or their solar array as required.
A complete load shedding solution
SegenSolar offers a variety of off-grid, self-consumption and back-up ‘Kits’ on the portal that include all the components required for an energy storage installation.
These Kits can be altered in our new and intuitive Kit Builder tool — offering you a 3% net saving across your system and a price that is locked in for 30 days. What’s more, creating a quote through Kit Builder can be done in less than five clicks, all while ensuring compatibility between each product and accurate system size calculations.
The hero of our Off-Grid Kits is KODAK. Pair your KODAK inverter with Giter for a low-cost system that is perfect for the SADC regions, or match it with Pylontech or Freedom Won for an ultra-reliable, high-quality off-grid solution.
Our Self-Consumption solutions feature inverters from GoodWe, KODAK, Solis, Sunsynk and Victron. Self-consumption means using the energy available from the PV modules together with energy stored in batteries to meet demand. Typically, a residential system will generate the most power during the day when a household’s consumption is not at its maximum. Without the ability to export surplus power, the only options are to reduce the size of the PV system so that excess energy is minimised. However, doing so also reduces usable energy. A more effective way of using surplus power is to store the energy until needed using a self-consumption system.
The Back-Up Only Kits do not include solar modules. Instead, these solutions comprise an off-grid or hybrid inverter plus compatible PV batteries. On the portal, you can find Kits featuring KODAK, Sunsynk or Solis inverters paired with Giter, Freedom Won or Pylontech batteries.
Are you ready to get involved in South Africa’s transition to renewable energy? Sign up to the exclusive SegenSolar portal now.