Load shedding is likely to be with us for years to come, and it may get worse. South Africans have every reason to complain about Eskom. But after complaining, households have to decide what to do to better cope with the loss of load.
Homes in our country range from families living on the streets of Johannesburg to the deep country estates of the Eastern Cape, to the shanty towns of every town in the country and to the estates of Constantia. It is impractical to write an article that has the best answer for everyone’s needs. For this article, we have considered households that use 250 to 650 kilowatt hours (kWh) of power from the grid per month. That covers most homes in the country.
What you do depends on how much money you can or are willing to spend. Here are some reasonable options. We hope it helps inform your decision.
Less than R10,000: Option 1 – small adjustments
For this kind of money, you can turn it into an affordable gas stove and oven, get battery- or solar-powered lights, and install an inexpensive UPS to keep your router, cell phones, and laptops running during load outage. .
You can also consider buying a power pack for R300 to R1 100 to recharge your cell phone or even your laptop.
This option allows you to use electronic devices, turn on lights, and cook during load shedding. A gas oven/stove also makes you much less dependent on Eskom.
On the downside, you have to fiddle with your lights a bit every time load cutoff starts, and remember to charge your lights and other devices when you have utility power. Plus, a low-cost UPS may not get you through four-hour blackouts. And gas cooking devices may not be feasible in some apartment blocks. Cooking on gas is also significantly more expensive than using the grid.
Although complicated, this definitely works, quite well in fact. However, as load shedding stages increase, it becomes more difficult.
Less than R40,000: Option 2 – small inverter/battery
Buy an inverter and a 3kW battery and have an electrician connect it to your house system.
This gets you through two hours and, depending on your usage, four-hour charging sheds. It is more convenient than option one but more expensive.
You may not be able to use your stove, geyser, well pump, or pool pump with this inverter. If you use multiple electrical devices during load shedding, you’ll likely trip the system, but with frugal use, this option definitely helps.
Less than R40,000: Option 3 – diesel generator (we hate this option)
This is unequivocally the worst option presented here, but many people have opted for it. In some circumstances, such as apartment blocks with very little roof space, this may be unavoidable, but should be considered as a last resort option.
Diesel generators are noisy, smelly, smoky, less safe, and emit significant greenhouse gases. Your neighborhood will not be happy with you if you go this way. If too many of us choose this option, we will turn suburban South Africa into a dystopia.
The cost of diesel is around R10 per kilowatt hour. A household currently using 400kWh per month of grid power can expect to spend R600 per month on diesel during Stage 4 load shedding. This is not Eskom’s path to grid independence. Also, do you really want to spend time constantly hauling diesel from your local garage to your house and filling up a generator?
Less than R100,000: Option 4: 5 kW inverter plus one or two 5.1 kWh batteries
Purchasing a 5kW inverter and one or two 5.1kWh batteries will even get you through four-hour blackouts. You can also use one from your oven, stove, well, or pool pump, but probably not two or more of these at the same time (maybe you could use the pool pump plus another). It is also a big step towards less dependence on Eskom.
However, there is a problem: it is still dependent on Eskom to charge the batteries. If too many homes go this option without having solar panels to charge the batteries, it will put enormous strain on the grid and exacerbate load loss. But as an intermediate step before buying solar panels, it’s definitely worth considering.
Less than R100,000: Option 5 – Rent a Solar System
Several companies now offer decent solar setups for rent. At least one company offers a 5kW inverter, a 5.1kWh battery and eight solar panels for R1 580 per month. This is option 4 but with much less reliance on Eskom; you generate your own power.
One drawback is that if you cancel within 36 months, you pay a fee of R20,000 and R10,000 if you cancel in years four to six. In addition, the monthly payment increases annually. It is also unclear who would earn the revenue from selling electricity to the grid, when it becomes an option, at least in Cape Town, in mid-2023.
This seems to be a fairly new option, so read the contract carefully before proceeding. Customer reviews on Google range from brilliant to stomping on the ground. Interestingly, one of the main complaints is the wait time, which suggests that demand is high.
Less than R150,000: Option 6 – medium size plot
Installing a system with a 5kW inverter, one or two 5.1kWh batteries and up to five solar panels will help you overcome any load shedding and make you virtually independent of the grid on sunny days.
You can use one oven, stove, well or pool pump at the same time, but usually not two or more of these devices together unless you pay an extra R15,000 for an 8kW inverter. You’ll probably be able to sell some power to the grid from mid-2023 on sunny days, depending on where you live.
This is an excellent option if you can afford it.
Less than R200,000: Option 7 – the full amount
If your home uses less than 700kWh per month, you can probably go virtually off grid, at least in the sunny months, by installing the following system: an 8kW inverter, two 5.1kWh batteries, and eight to twelve 545W solar panels. (You can spend a little over R200,000 if you have eleven or twelve solar panels.)
With this, you can run any standard home, usually without giving a second thought to what appliances are on: you could even run the well pump, oven, and stove all at the same time. But you may need some power from the grid if there are several very cloudy days in a row.
If you don’t have a pool pump or well pump, have a solar geyser, and use a gas furnace, you can save around R15,000 with a 5kW inverter instead of an 8kW one.
With this option, you will be able to sell a lot of power to the grid on sunny days. Apparently this will be allowed, at least in Cape Town, from mid-2023.
To sell to the network you will also need a two-way counter. These are currently just shy of R11,000, but prices are expected to drop soon.
It can be argued that if you can implement this option then you should. It will help take pressure off the grill.
apartment blocks
Apartments are one of the most sustainable ways of living. But load shedding solutions for apartment blocks can be especially tricky. Often there is not much space on the roof for solar panels. In addition, residents will normally have to negotiate a use agreement among themselves. If your apartment block has solved the problem of load shedding, we are very interested to hear from you.
What about the informal settlements and RDP houses?
A major achievement of the post-apartheid government has been to provide electricity to millions of people living in informal settlements and RDP houses. This achievement is being undone by the deterioration of Eskom. None of the options that we have listed above are feasible for the vast majority of people who live in this type of housing.
We are interested in hearing from organizations and residents who are experimenting with supplying off-grid power to informal settlements, or solving load shedding for RDP neighborhoods.
