LookSee executive head Marc du Plessis noted that most solar systems installed in the past two years have had their inverters set to provide maximum relief during load shedding and power outages.
Solar systems have predominantly been set to keep the batteries as full as possible in preparation for the next round of load shedding. This has often meant that the batteries were charged with grid power. So youve been saving that energy for a rainy day, but now the rainy day is not there.
Using your battery storage to provide for some of your nighttime electricity needs when load shedding is at low levels or suspended, can maximise your savings and help you to pay off your your solar finance faster du Plessis explained.
While its uncertain how long Eskoms planned power cuts will be suspended for, its important to stay alert so you dont get caught off-guard.
Look at the way your solar system is set up and see if you can tweak your inverter settings. Ideally, you want to allocate some of your battery storage for your nighttime needs and set your batteries to only charge with solar power. Youll need to keep an eye on load shedding alerts, however, so you can switch back your settings if higher levels of load shedding are introduced.
READ MORE: Is getting solar really worth it? Heres how much you could save Behavioural change is key ALSO ' READ: Im planning to go solar, how do I make sure my installer isnt dodgy? Monitor and submit your metre readingsMeanwhile, monitoring your homes electricity consumption is also key to keeping track of your savings.
For post-paid customers, the recommendation is to religiously submit your actual meter readings.
Du Plessis warned that most utility providers often use estimates to bill on monthly usage, further encouraging homeowners to track their own readings.
Your billing wont be as accurate, and therefore you might get billed a larger amount than what your actual usage is.
Post-paid users can consult their municipal or utility website for details on where and when to submit these readings.
Meanwhile, households on prepaid electricity dont have to go through the hassle.
Prepaid metres make it slightly easier because you know exactly how much money youve spent, and how many units youve purchased in that particular month.
Those units should deplete at a much slower rate because youre using your own solar energy and batteries.
ALSO ' READ: Converting your electric geyser to solar could save you thousands Return on investmentIf youve taken out a loan to finance your solar system, then you can use the savings towards monthly repayment.
If you optimise your solar power usage now, using more of your battery power at night instead of relying on the grid your savings will increase markedly.
That means you can pay off your solar system quickly, and get your return on investment faster, du Plessis concluded.
This article is brought to you by LookSee .
