SOLAR SYSTEMS:

BUY CHEAP, BUY TWICE

30 January 2023

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What to look for in solar PV installers and the potential pitfalls of using "fly-by-night" companies

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[Ryk van Niekerk] Every evening for the past couple of weeks we have chatted about loadshedding.  Loadshedding hurts not only companies, but the disruptions are obliging households and businesses to plan ahead, and the most popular solution becomes acquiring an inverter or a solar energy system.  The demand for such solutions has increased dramatically over the past couple of years, and is expected to escalate for the next couple at least.  This increasing demand has resulted in many unqualified or fly-by-night installers, who do not always install the best equipment or solutions, popping up.  They can take shortcuts with the installation, resulting in the owner being saddled with problems afterwards.  This evening we will be chatting about how households and businesses should approach the matter.

 

[DeVilliers Botha, management committee member of the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA)] This is a growing problem amid the escalating demand.  But the problem has been coming for quite a while, and I can refer back to 2015 when we as the industry organisation wanted to start writing the South African National Standards (SANS) and realised there were many former, what one might call "solar geyser installers" on the rooftops.  These then migrated to solar systems, solar power systems, electrical systems.  The installers are essentially plumbers doing the electrical work.  We have recognised the growing problem of many people coming on board, from so-called "drone pilots" to former lawnmower service providers, all saying "Great, let's buy a bakkie and do the job".  So we have a problem, but we all recognise it as an opportunity for training and application.

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[Van Niekerk]  Let's say a household says it can no longer take this loadshedding, and plans to install a solar energy system.  The owner might draw from savings, or even borrow money from the bank.  These things are expensive - we are talking about R70,000 to R80,000 plus.  What should that household then do to make sure it gets the best system for the money available?

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[Botha] I would start asking who will do the job, and what that person's qualifications are - not only the company's qualification, but the qualifications of those in that company.  Typically, there should be an electrician who can provide the necessary COC (certificate of compliance).  We know that the COC is essential in the event of something going wrong or should you wish to sell your house.  The important thing is, should a fire break out and insurance becomes involved, the insurer will immediately request the COC for the system and ask could an illegally installed system not be the cause of the fire?  So it's critical to ask for that COC and to make sure everything is above board.  Also make sure that person is more than an electrician to issue a COC, but one who has received further training in the industry.

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[Van Niekerk]  Is it a very complicated system to install in a typical home?  Is it difficult, do you really have to know what you are doing?

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[Botha]  The setting up aspect is extremely important.  This week alone I happened to see a news report in which a number of retailers were advertising how they are importing systems.  But those systems have not been designed to meet specific client needs.  This week I happened to hear a conversation taking place at a sportsground where a guy said he just wanted to "pull the load", the expression we use today, for his lights and his fridge.  The other guy said, "Man, my house is off grid".  Those are two totally different scenarios.  You need a qualified person for the job.  An engineer is sometimes required to do the design.  It's not like saying "I'm just going to the shop to buy another lawnmower, and I'll bring it home and set it up myself and have it working within two hours".  You really have to make sure that the product meets your needs, and that it matches what you already have at home and the load you wish to pull.  Then there is the size of the batteries.  Many people say "The system has not been providing what I wanted".  When properly technically authorised people from SAPVIA go and inspect, they discover that the system was never designed for that application, but that the customer wanted to spend less than was needed for an appropriate system.

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[Van Niekerk]  A friend told me a while ago that he had an inverter, and wanted to install solar panels.  The installer came out and said that the batteries he had purchased at great expense were the wrong batteries.  How can one make sure that the equipment being installed is really good and not just "cheap Chinese rubbish"?

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[Botha]  First, I'd like to correct that statement.  Not everything coming from China these days is bad.  I know that in the vernacular we used to say that.  But I think first let us look at the guarantee.  We are all on Google these days, and we now use it as a verb.  When a supplier gives you a quotation, research the components he specified, no matter what the brand.  Go on the internet, Google that product, examine the guarantees, and check the good and bad comments from other consumers about that product.  I would typically say, "Really try to keep to products that have at least a 5-year guarantee with regard to turnover.  And then, as to the batteries, look for something with at least a 10-year guarantee."  It would be wrong to mention battery brand names.  But go and look at products that are assembled locally.  There are several, and they usually give a 10-year guarantee on their batteries.

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[Van Niekerk]  I agree that the guarantee is very important.  But when looking at these types of systems, it could be a case of "BUY CHEAP, BUY TWICE".

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[Botha]  For sure.  We have regularly seen that.  It could mean having to replace your entire system.  As SAPVIA and having had customers on the solar side come in with systems where we can reuse almost nothing we find on the premises, and we have to start from scratch, then you land up paying double for the same solution.  That is something we don't want to see as an industry.  If people want to protect themselves against loadshedding, they need to do it in a sensible way.

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[Van Niekerk]  So the message is to do your homework and don't necessarily accept the first quotation..  These things are expensive, and you can save yourself a lot of future problems.

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https://www.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-radio/rsg-geldsake/solar-systems-buy-cheap-buy-twice/