How much it costs to dump Eskom in South Africa

South Africans wanting to dump Eskom are looking at a wide price range, starting from under R55,000 all the way up to R250,000 or more, depending on the type of system they choose.

Eskom’s reliability has increased greatly in the last few years, with load-shedding now mostly suspended, save for a few incidents.

However, many South Africans are still looking for ways to reduce their power usage and reliance on the power utility, especially as prices keep rising at above-inflation rates every year.

For these individuals, Nedbank explained that finding the right home solar solution can be a time-consuming and confusing exercise.

“Considering the cost involved, this is not something you want to get wrong. If the system’s too small, it won’t power your home when needed, and if it’s too big you’re spending too much to produce more electricity than you can use,” the bank said.

It compared the general costs of three different solar options South Africans can use to generate their own power at home and reduce their reliance on the national grid – or end it completely.

For the purpose of this exercise, Nedbank compared the cost of 5 kW solar photovoltaic systems used as a grid-tied, hybrid or fully off-grid installation.

“A system of this size should be enough for a household that pays around R1,400 for electricity every month, using roughly 960 kWh,” the bank said.

“If you have a smaller home and use less electricity, your costs would be a little lower. If you have a larger home, you’re going to need a bigger budget.”

The prices used in these examples have been taken from a reputable supplier that offers home solar kits, including all the components, brackets and connectors someone will need to install a solar system.

The costs of the systems calculated exclude installation, electrical certificate of compliance and any other service charges.

Grid-tied and hybrid systems

Nedbank explained that a grid-tied system produces energy whenever there is enough sunlight, but also draws power from the grid when the system isn’t generating enough electricity.

“This is the cheapest option because it excludes the most expensive component in any solar power system – the batteries,” the bank said.

“For this installation, six solar panels and an inverter – to convert the direct current from the panels into the alternating current used in your home – should be enough to produce the power you need during the day.

This solution should cost between R55,000 and R60,000. Since the buyer will be using less grid electricity during the day, though, the cost will be offset to an extent by savings on their electricity bill.

Nedbank also looked at the cost of installing a hybrid solar system, which has the advantage of generating and storing electricity most of the time and drawing power from the electricity grid only when needed.

A hybrid system adds battery storage between the solar panels and the inverter, which sharply increases the price, the bank said.

For a hybrid system as described, someone may want to install two batteries to ensure sufficient power storage during extended periods of cloudy weather, which can cause the system to produce less electricity than usual.

“Our chosen hybrid solution with eight solar panels and two batteries will cost you between R115,000 and R120,000,” Nedbank said.

Dumping Eskom completely

Finally, Nedbank looked at what it would cost to go off the grid completely, which is, naturally, the most expensive option.

“Being free of the electricity grid and constant power outages comes at a cost. Yes, you have your own power source, but you’re also totally reliant on it working as it should,” the bank said.

If anything goes wrong, a user with this type of system will be left without any electricity and no easy access to an alternative.

“That’s why a totally off-grid system needs more solar panels to feed the much bigger bank of batteries to ensure you have enough electricity to run everything in your home,” the bank said.

They also need to be able to store enough electricity to keep everything running until the batteries can be recharged by solar power alone.

For this scenario, Nedbank considered using as many as five batteries, providing a storage capacity of approximately 18 kWh, and requiring eight solar panels to recharge the batteries fully every day.

“This is not a very big margin of safety, so we also looked at a 9-battery solution that needs 14 solar panels but can store up to 33 kWh, double your daily average,” it said.

“Generating twice as much power as you consume is a wide safety margin for your off-grid system, but it comes at a cost – close to R250,000, to be exact.”