Reduce grid use
Hybrid and grid-tied solar
A hybrid system balances two goals that pull against each other: resilience and savings. Which way the design leans depends on your tariff, your consumption pattern and how much an outage actually costs you.
Worth knowing
Municipal rules, tariffs, fixed charges and export economics differ by area and change over time. We confirm the current position for your connection rather than working from a general figure.
Self-consumption is where the value sits
Energy you generate and use yourself is worth what you would have paid for it. Energy you export is worth whatever your municipality pays, which is usually a good deal less and sometimes nothing.
So the design question is how to line generation up with consumption, using storage or timing rather than assuming export will carry the economics.
Grid tied without storage
A grid-tied array reduces daytime import at the lowest cost per kilowatt hour installed. It is a good fit for a site that uses most of its power during daylight and does not need continuity.
It will not keep you running during an outage. Without a battery and the right inverter, a grid-tied system shuts down when the grid does.
Hybrid with storage
Adding storage lets you carry generation into the evening and ride through outages. It costs more per kilowatt hour and it is the right call when continuity has real value or when your consumption sits well outside daylight hours.
We model both against your account rather than recommending storage by reflex.
Questions
Common questions
- Does a grid-tied system work during load shedding?
- Not on its own. A grid-tied inverter without storage disconnects when the grid goes down, for safety reasons. Riding through an outage requires a hybrid or backup configuration.
- Should I add a battery now or later?
- If the inverter and cabling are specified for it, later is a legitimate choice and it spreads the cost. If they are not, retrofitting is expensive. That is a design decision worth making deliberately at the start.
How we deliver it
- Energy assessment and system designWe learn how and when you use energy, which loads matter most and what the site allows, then turn that into a design with the assumptions written down.
- Monitoring and supportVisibility of how the system is actually performing, and a local team to call when something needs attention.
- A home system built across four phasesLangebaan, home
- Continuity for a working studioLangebaan, business
Next step
Start with an assessment.
Tell us how the property is used and what you want it to do. We come out, work through the site and put the reasoning in writing.