Another steady set of solar figures for the month of April and similar to the previous months this year. The change of seasons is definitely in play with shorter days and longer nights so these figures should slowly drop over the coming months. The solar system has been great and recommend this for anyone who is thinking of doing something similar.

Currently On Hold

I have been keeping an eye on consumption considering we have been having staff working from the property over the last few months. That is another story and why currently I am not bragging about having a new solar geyser on the roof or additional solar panels and batteries. It is what it is and hoping all the legal battles are resolved during the month of May.

The discharge or throwing away power that cannot be stored due to not having sufficient battery storage is still hovering around 340Kwh which divided by 30 is around an average of 11kwh per day. It would have been great to see if the solar geyser and a couple of extra batteries along with 8 extra solar panels would make the difference I suspect it will and look forward to getting that done as quickly as possible. The geyser is the unknown as I have no clue how much energy is being drawn currently, but it must be 20-30% which is a high percentage of the entire consumption.

The stove/oven also needs to be converted to gas which means a brand new kitchen due to laying gas lines so it may as well be gutted and redone. This is a job that needs doing so it may as well happen sooner than later which will be the final act to take us off the grid permanently. This will not be cheap and needs to be done to a high standard because a kitchen is a major selling point. Everything that we are doing now will have one eye on selling due to knowing we will be relocating.

The great thing about all of these costs is that whatever is spent will be returned when the house is sold in the future. I have monitored properties for sale and there has not been one who is fully off the grid. This is a major selling point and can add an additional 15-20% on the value of the property due to having no monthly power utility costs. This would save the new owners anywhere between R6K and R8K which is $400-$500 monthly and a significant saving.

I honestly hate how close we are to achieving off the grid status and still having to pay the monthly power bill having invested so much already. We are not achieving the planned savings yet due to the manipulated monthly bills penalizing us for having solar.

The purchased electricity from the grid is below 600kwh yet the bill will still be the same as what it was before we had solar due to increases and two admin fees which is their way of manipulating the bill. Sure the bill would be far higher than what we are currently paying without solar due to the annual increases having taken place over the last 2 years. I just do not trust the monthly readings and need to just get off the grid which is a priority.

I have my solar installer on standby phoning me each week for updates and I am hoping to pull the trigger shortly when I know where we stand legally with our court battles. The next round is due for the 19th May and it should go our way which will then allow me to spend funds again. Lawyers are expensive and the only reason why these upgrades have not been completed already.