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Load-shedding - your 10-point plan
The words "battery-powered” and "solar systems” are on everyone's lips - mostly due to ongoing electricity outages across South Africa, but in certain cases also due to maintenance neglect in some municipalities. Even President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a recent news conference that South Africans who are able to should install solar power to ease the pressure on Eskom, South Africa's national and primary electricity provider.
In a Facebook survey, it appears that a number of Home readers have already installed solar or battery systems as a back-up. But there are still a lot of questions, and many readers are concerned about affordability. So where does one start if you want to use solar power or back-up batteries? We talked to the experts…
#1 The starting point
Firstly, you must determine to what extent you want to reduce your dependence on Eskom. Do you want to be completely off the grid, or do you want to make provision for emergency power? And what is your definition of emergency power - enough to keep your