Many South Africans do not have their home solar systems optimised for maximum financial savings \u2013 and with the longer daylight hours of summer on the way, it is important that you avoid leaving money on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marc du Plessis, executive head of the LookSee home efficiency platform, notes that while solar systems typically keep on running without interventions, there are things that households can do to improve their performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith electricity tariffs rising, families need their solar systems to deliver maximum savings on their electricity bills. However, many simply just don\u2019t know what to do to make this happen. That\u2019s why we\u2019re sharing the top tips we give our own solar customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In South Africa, many solar systems have been set up to prioritise keeping the battery 80-100% full for when load-shedding strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This ensures that you do not run out of backup electricity during long periods of power cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, load-shedding has been gone for over seven months \u2013 so it is advisable to adjust your battery settings to maximise your financial savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve found that many households are not taking full advantage of the savings potential of their solar system\u2019s battery storage. Now that load-shedding is not in play, families can use this power to cover some, or all, of their nighttime electricity needs. This reduces the home\u2019s usage of grid power and can bring down bills significantly,\u201d says Du Plessis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can ask your installer to change your settings or do it yourself on your system\u2019s app by following the steps below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example: If your battery\u2019s recommended DoD is 80%<\/strong>, and you want to include a safety factor of 20%:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You would therefore set your battery to deplete to 40% before switching your electricity use to grid power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Importantly, you should set your batteries to only recharge with solar power, says Du Plessis, to prevent drawing additional electricity from the grid and ensuring you don\u2019t waste the free electricity generated by your solar panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Summer brings more daylight hours, which gives you more opportunity to produce power and increase your savings on your electricity bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Achieving these maximum savings, however, will require that you take a considered approach as to how you use your solar power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Du Plessis explains: \u201cWhile your solar panels will start generating power earlier in the day, it still takes time for the sun to get to a position where they can produce at their best. This is called a peak operating period and typically happens between 9:30 and 15:30.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This peak period is the best time to schedule those tasks that require a lot of electricity like running your geyser, washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer, pool pump, vacuum cleaner, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another common mistake households make is scheduling all these loads to happen at the same time, particularly in the morning, says Du Plessis. This means your appliances need more electricity than your solar system can produce, so you start drawing additional power from the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you want to increase your savings, it\u2019s best to schedule your heavy loads one after another so you can maximise your solar usage and minimise your grid requirements. Pay particular attention to loads that can be moved to the afternoon \u2013 like your geyser, pool pump and vacuum cleaning \u2013 as this is the time when your household electricity demands tends to drop off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your solar panels will also fill up your battery quickly during the summer days, giving you more than enough battery power to get you through the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another critical consideration as we enter the summer months is ensuring your solar panels are operating at full capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If they are not, you are literally losing money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two main reasons your solar panels may not be operating optimally \u2013 both of which are extremely easy to fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly, your panels could need cleaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While rainy weather does clean your solar panels to some extent, stubborn built-up dirt and bird droppings will remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dirt will attract leaves and debris, too, reducing the effectiveness of your solar panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The solution is simple: Twice a year, hop onto your roof and give your solar panels a clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Optimise your solar usage<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Panel maintenance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n