The important stats I am looking at each month.
Import 403kwh vs last month 380.6 kwh
Discharge 310kwh vs last month 307.6 kwh
This month has been much the same as the previous month with the weather being very similar with late afternoon electrical storms and heavy cloud cover. This is expected as this is our rainy season and should continue through November.
The discharge is what concerns me the most as this is just free electricity being tossed into the air each month. The stupid part is this is not being stored due to the batteries being full and when you do sum quick sums it adds up quickly.
If this could be stored then the difference between imported and exported is negligible being 93 kwh or in money terms R252 or $15. I have not added or increased the size of the solar plant for some time and it makes financial sense to add some more.
One more 5.33 kwh battery would add another 160kwh storage per month reducing the discharged power by half and reducing the imported power from the grid by 40%. The investment without installation costs would be R14K ($800). The savings per month would be R440 and annually R5280 so the return on investment is 30 months which is pretty damn good. Reducing the import and reducing the discharge is all I am concerned about at this time of the year.
I still have a credit with my suppliers and will use that to add another 7 or 8 solar panels which would put me in a great position if we eventually supply back to the grid. This was not the intention and still is not, but when we sell the new owners have that option and is a great selling feature. This is a fun project to play around with especially when you see how the investment is returning your funds at a good rate. Next month the solar would have been on site for 12 months and it will be great to get some strong data vs investment returns and will do a proper break down.
The target is still to get as close or be off the grid fully by April next year even though the solar penalties and extra charges the electricity provider had intended to do have fallen away. The trust is not there and in the meantime need to reduce my reliance on the grid before their next idea on how to screw the solar households and businesses. When they are short on revenue you just know they will be cooking up something new.
The extra solar panels will increase the PV so the extra battery will not be enough and know I will need another 3 so getting the one for now is not solving the problem and is just a start. Having an extra 16kwh of storage with a larger solar bank will put us in a very strong position for winter.
The total investment I envisage when the system is complete will be around the R20k mark if you include the installation fees and hidden costs. Even on current prices without future increases this would have a ROI within less than 6 years and has added significant sale value to the property. Anyone buying the property would basically be off the grid saving $300 monthly. Not only that but knowing that when we have those outages you are not affected.