Hybrid Solar Systems Johannesburg | Modular Solar Solution| Innov8 Energy

Hybrid Solar Systems

Our hybrid solar systems in Johannesburg provides maximum reliability with backup battery storage. Battery technology is still relatively expensive although the cost is rapidly declining. A storage battery will capture the unused solar power generated during the day, for use at night and on low sunlight days. Electric transportation has pushed lithium-ion batteries down the cost curve further and faster than laptops and mobile phones could have achieved on their own (both of these also use lithium-ion batteries).

Innov8 Energy offers modular solutions that enable customers to increase their system coverage to as much as 95% without grid power over a period of time. It must be noted that a combination of solar and battery is unlikely to meet all your power needs throughout the year, on most days, especially in periods of low sunlight, you’ll still need to draw some power from the grid. Even off-grid systems still usually rely on a diesel generator and or battery storage. We, therefore, recommend that solar battery combined solutions are still connected to the grid for maximum efficiency, that is hybrid solar PV systems as indicated below.

The average household in South Africa uses around 30 kWh/day i.e., 11 000 kWh/year. The range is from a single person household typically using 8-9 kWh/day on average to a 4 bedroom 5 person household with a swimming pool using around 33 kWh/day. The average tariff can be assumed to be R1.43/kWh.

A hybrid solar system of say 6 kW maybe an optimum solution for average electricity usage providing the maximum off-grid capability, but this would still require sensible usage to extend solar/battery coverage, i.e., heating and cooling done during the day or cooling at night using grid power. The decision is one of economics, balancing between the installation cost and the anticipated savings.

Payback calculations

We offer 2 – 10 kW solar systems with or without battery storage and phased to meet your budgetary requirements. The graph below shows payback periods taking into account savings over 5 and 10 years for 3kW, 5kW, 8kW and 10 kW solar systems with battery storage for illustration. The actual costs we depend on specific conditions applicable to each customer.