Over the years, South Africans have become accustomed to coping with occasional Stage 1 or 2 loadshedding, and have therefore only made minor concessions but, with Stage 4 and 6 now regular occurrences, we need to plan accordingly to minimise the stress and disruption to our lives....
From 1 July, you will be paying upwards of 15% more for your electricity, as municipal tariff increases kick in. Yet energy experts have cautioned that, without urgent intervention from the government and others, we will see load shedding intensify with Stages 6, 8, and even 10 a likelihood. Understandably, homeowners are considering alternative ways to keep the lights on....
With memories of the most recent bout of Stage 4 load shedding still fresh, Eskom is forecasting as many as 100 days of load shedding between April and August. Needless to say, that’s about as welcome as sour milk in your cereal and will have many South Africans trying to figure out how they can free themselves from Eskom's clutches....
“Faced with mounting energy costs, many homeowners think that going entirely off-grid is the only solution. Unfortunately, this is often too expensive. It’s, therefore, more feasible to make adjustments to your home’s energy consumption so that you can introduce solar energy solutions with a hybrid battery system that will augment Eskom or your municipality’s supply - rather than replacing it...
As increasing numbers of South Africans look to capitalise on renewable energy to reduce their household bills, SAPVIA (South African Photovoltaic Association) is urging consumers that due diligence is required to minimise risk....
The way we live in - and experience - our homes has forever changed since the onset of Covid-19 and, in the long term, this means that the way in which houses are designed and constructed must also be adapted to meet new demands and priorities....
Property owners in community housing schemes such as Sectional Title complexes and gated estates should be celebrating the newly-gazetted change to the Electricity Generation Act regulations, which will allow private individuals and businesses to generate up to 100MW of electricity for their own use without having to obtain a licence from the National Electricity Regulator....
Against the backdrop of several rounds of load shedding in recent days, a warning has been issued for homeowners and business owners to test the battery systems for the alarm and security systems they use....