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New residential energy solution launched in South Africa

6th May 2016

By: Terence Creamer

Creamer Media Editor

  

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A residential energy solution that allows homeowners to generate and store their own electricity has been officially launched in the Western Cape market by Energy Partners Home Solutions, a division of PSG.

Dubbed the ‘Icon Home Energy Hub’, the solution comprises roof-mounted solar panels with a 3.1 kWp capacity and an inverter, which converts direct-current electricity produced by the panels into alternating current. The inverter is integrated with a 3.6 kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery, which is able to store energy for use during higher-tariff peak periods.

In fact, the full household solution also includes a hot-water tank, a heat pump and a remote monitoring platform, allowing the user to monitor the status of the system directly through a mobile app. However, the company has opted for a modular deployment approach and is willing, for instance, to install only aspects of the overall offering, depending on a homeowner’s requirements.

The full solution will cost R167 000 before value-added tax and is designed primarily for medium-sized households with a monthly electricity bill of above R1 500.

MD Alan Matthews says such households will save up to 70% on their monthly electricity bill and earn a 16% return on their investment over seven years.

The residential offering, he adds, has been developed over the past 18 months to cater for homeowners keen to “take control of their energy” in a context of rising tariffs and supply disruptions. However, it has also been sized with due regard for the prevailing lack of certainty about the rules associated with households feeding surplus electricity back into the grid.

“We have opted for a modular approach that enables households to increase their capacity over time should it make sense to do so,” Matthews explains.

The inverters and batteries come with a five-year guarantee and are expected to endure for ten years, with the batteries designed for 4 000 full-discharge cycles. The panels, which are imported mostly from China, come with a guarantee that they will operate at 80% of their rated power capacity for 20 years.

Energy Partners Home Solutions is accepting Western Cape orders for delivery in June and will launch in Gauteng before the end of 2016. It has a backlog of about 60 homes, most of which are associated with a new estate being built in the Western Cape, but it is targeting installation of between 0.5 MW and 1 MW of residential systems by the end of 2016.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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