Guys, anyone here in SA involved in alternative power/energy research/development. I am playing with a few home projects at the moment.
Solar I run almost all my lighting off 12V LED bulbs and a few 220V through a converter and the odd appliance/electric fence etc.
Have not installed solar geyser as yet as I think the cost to investment is not worth the recovery time. I calculate about 15 years for me to recover costs (even after Eskom rebate that will take 3-5 years to pay back) at my present costs and that is the expected lifespan of a solar geyser (10 to 12 years) so I loose in this case.
My cons to present setup - expensive to start with but has a return over a few yers (matbe 3-4 years) and then basically free - problem is storage of energy, basically batteries and the lifespan of these. Heavy duty deep cycle batteries are not cheep by any means but should last 5 years plus. I am told that forklift batteries have much better lifespans and one person i have been in contact with has used the same battery for his needs almost 25 years now. Any one know where to buy forklift batteries wholesale? I can get but mostly second hand and then maybe refurbed. Was told these are not as good as new? Anyine with exerience in these batteries?
Anyone used HH2 to power up energy? I have a nice little experiment at home that is starting to show really nice prospects in central heating, cooking and water heating through a special device.
Would like to hear of anyone else trying other alternatives.