What are the effects of power outages on your small business or home office?
- Lost productivity.
- Loss of income.
- Business’s doors due to inability to operate
- Security risks, electric fence, alarm, gates and lights does not work
- Damage to sensitive electronic equipment due to power surges when the power failure ends.
- Electric gates and garage doors do not work.
- No internet or Wi-Fi.
What are the effects of power outages on your life and household?
- No electricity puts your safety and security at risk.
- Electric gates and garage doors do not work.
- House alarm and electric fences switch off
- Food in the fridge and freezer spoil.
- Can’t charge electronic devices (e.g. laptops and cell phones).
- No TV, internet or Wi-Fi.
- No lights for kids to study.
Current situation: Eskom grid power
Up to now, we were all forced to use power for a central electricity grid, as there were no alternatives. But this has several disadvantages….
- The biggest cause of air pollution – Contributing to various human diseases.
- High volumes of CO2 emissions – Contributing to global warming.
- Power shortages – Causing load shedding
- Expensive – Large monthly electricity bills.
- Rising cost – Large uncontrollable price increases every year.
Alternative options: Generators
Some turn to generators for backup power solutions. This can work as a short term solution, but a generator has several disadvantages, and are very expensive to use for prologued and regular power failures.
- Noisy – Upsetting to you and your neighbours.
- Air pollution – Makes a lot of unhealthy smelly smoke.
- Unreliable – Can be difficult to start, must be kept filled up with fuel.
- Requires Maintenance – Regular maintenance must be done to ensure it keeps on working.
- Expensive – Consumes a lot of expensive fuel each hour.
- Complicated – Can be complicated and dangerous to connect to home DB (Distribution Box).
There has to be a better alternative way….
The better alternative way is Renewable energy combined with local energy storage with or without grid backup. Also, know as a Hybrid solar system, or solar and backup power systems.
GES Standard Hybrid Power Systems
The perfect backup power and solar power solution for your home, home office or small business… Advantages of a hybrid solar system over grid and generators are:
-
- Very quiet operation.
- NO air pollution.
- Reliable – It just works.
- Requires virtually no maintenance.
- Flexible – Charge batteries with Eskom or solar power.
- Easy to use – Automatically and immediately supplies power when there is a power failure.
- Safe – Clean safe power for expensive sensitive equipment such as medical devices and electronics.
Advantages of Solar Power over grid power
- Pollution free – No CO2 or other harmful gasses emissions.
- Abundance Resource – Abundance of Solar energy in South Africa.
- Free energy – Why pay for something you can get for free from the sun?
- Great investment – Initial investment pays for itself within a few years.
South Africa has abundant solar power
South Africa is ideally situation to take advantage of solar power! Compared to Europe, for example Germany, South Africans will get almost twice the amount of energy from a solar panel that someone in Germany.
How does a “Hybrid Solar System” work?
A hybrid solar system is basically just a backup system with solar power added. So, one can start off with just a backup system, then add solar panels at a later stage.
- Backup system: Inverter & batteries
- Solar system: Solar panel array
- Hybrid system: Backup system + Solar system
Select the right system for your needs.
Step 1: First select the backup system size. We have six standard examples:
| Name | Inverter Size | Battery Size |
|---|---|---|
| Extra Small | 3 kVA | 7.0 kWh |
| Small | 5 kVA | 10.5 kWh |
| Medium | 8 kVA | 14.0 kWh |
| Large | 10 kVA | 17.5 kWh |
| Extra Large | 15 kVA | 21.0 kWh |
Step 2: Then select the amount of solar to add:
The amount of solar is dependent of the following factors.
- The amount of available roof space.
- Your energy consumption.
- Inverter and battery size
One of our qualified solar consultants will be able to advise you on the correct amount for your situation. This table is just to give an indication of costs and expected energy yield of different size solar systems.
| Size | Number of 500 W panels | Yearly energy | Average monthly energy | Average daily energy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 kWp | 2 | 1 700 kWh | 142 kWh | 5 kWh |
| 2 kWp | 4 | 3 400 kWh | 283 kWh | 9 kWh |
| 3 kWp | 6 | 5 100 kWh | 425 kWh | 14 kWh |
| 4 kWp | 8 | 6 800 kWh | 567 kWh | 19 kWh |
| 5 kWp | 10 | 8 500 kWh | 708 kWh | 23 kWh |
| 6 kWp | 12 | 10 200 kWh | 992 kWh | 28 kWh |
| 7 kWp | 14 | 11 900 kWh | 850 kWh | 33 kWh |
| 8 kWp | 24 | 13 600 kWh | 1 133 kWh | 37 kWh |
Step 3: Calculate the total system cost:
The total system cost can be calculated by adding the cost of the backup system plus the cost of the amount of solar you would like to add. Fill in the form below for one of our professional solar consultants to advise you what is the best option for you.