@jamplu: how many units do you consume per month and how many people are in your house?

I have the usual stuff... TV, microwave, baking oven [use about 2 time a month] fridge, instant hot showers, music system (400W consumption; 60W output - this one runs every time the TV is on so both of them combined drink 500W!), lights (mostly LEDs) etc

Ranges between 160 - 180 Kwh in a month

You see, when you start living in a mansion( ), there are other things that consume electricity - lawn mowing, lawn irrigation, flood lights for outdoor sitings, you get to use multiple AV equipments....etc......

You still haven't answered: how many people live in your house?

This is a major factor on power consumption.

Two of my neighbours have backup solar system (working pretty good when kplc goes dark, though this is rare and capacity limited to lighting and security); and one is proceeding to full off-grid.

I don't have the neighbours authority to disclose their info, but guy doing their work has # +254 786 790893

Will try the 50k backup this year thought, then post evaluation end year.

I also learn there is a guy offering full off-grid at 600k for 300sqm hse. Rumours though as I have not met nor know his specs to estimate it's ROI or cost-benefit figures.

Contacts of supplier and perhaps name of equipment please?

Thank you very much!

Besotted Farm Stay....

https://www.booking.com/...;type=total;ucfs=1&

Solar plus wind turbine....

It is very easy to set up once you work from output needed backwards.

For me and my 150W output (from the inverter) system, my 30A charge controller and recently upgraded 75Ah battery (from 40Ah) and 80W solar panel are working perfectly. I simply need to power TV, laptop and 3-4 very low watt LED bulbs during blackouts and the total wattage of all those devices is well below 150.

And nothing beats practical experience when dealing with solar. You can read all the manuals in the world but once you connect and start using the system, you will learn more in two days than from a month of book research and videos.

Connection is basically Solar panel to charge controller to battery to inverter to devices..which is not rocket science since you are just connecting negatives to positives and the charge controller instructions in the box tell you everything.

Almost a year in of use of this cheap but very effective back system, this is my advice to those interested in the same;

1. There are a LOT of scam compenents in the solar market. If you are naive and green you can easily get conned. Please avoid any charge controller that looks like this. They are super cheap and come in thousands of different brand names but i suspect they are all made by one Chinese conman company. I have never met person who has anything good to say about these types of charge controllers. It will go kaput within months (or even days) of use, trust me.



2. Raggie PWM charge controller at no more than 3k kshs is WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD. As i have said before this thing is a workhorse! Easy to use and no issues whatsoever with it so far.



3. Get these types of inverters. They too are a blessing! Dirt cheap and very efficient. Should cost you no more than 3-4k for 300W and below. No overheating issues (they have an excellent fan) and give sweet consistent 220V output.



4.AVOID AT ALL COSTS any inverters that look like this



They are terrible and the wattage they say they deliver seldom matches. They also conk out easily

5. With batteries, even so called deep cycle solar batteries, there are no guarantees. Car batteries sometimes work even better than so called deep cycle solar batteries yet are dirt cheap. As long as you are not drawing down your batteries to less than 50% during each use, any battery works fine. I am told Wanda solar batteries are bure and Ritar are good...on this ni trial and error tu.

The Oushang panel amazes me..it works even under low light conditions so these days I just lean in on the inside part of the window and it charges my system nyweee bila shida yoyote In fact I need to switch the charge controller off for days at a time because it charges up my battery fast!

6. Keep your system mobile. Do not hammer the components to the wall unless you have a huge system powering the whole house or one floor. That way you can move it to any room you need and can also carry it on a road trip easy. Moving it is a breeze. I highly recommend battery clips (below) from charge controller to battery and inverter to battery. Makes for easy set up and movement. You just disconnect the clips..carry the battery to the other room, then the inverter, then the panel with cables connected to the charge controller and set up again in seconds.



Bottom line my mini system has paid for itself interms of convenience and peace of mind many times over. As I said the only change I have made is to add kidogo battery capacity in case a blackout lasts more than a day and so far that has not happened. In fact i have too much power for my system and am very happy with it as of now.

Oh and one last thing. Do NOT get a GD lite system (to use with your solar set up)that does not have an AC charge option.

Mine was stolen and I almost made the mistake of buying a new one that did not have it thinking all of the them are the same..not so!

You will need the AC charge to charge from the inverter. Without it you are stuck with charging for three days with the panel which is quite a useless one to be honest.

The low energy LED bulbs with switches are awesome! One bulb can light a whole room quite beautifully.

https://www.kilimall.co.ke/new/goods/1009337