main house

As load shedding (infrequent scheduled power interruptions) is a reality in South Africa, and in order to reduce our Electricity footprint and not inconvenience our guest during power failures, Zinkwazibush have gone Solar with a Hybrid Solar installation.

At the end of February 2019, Zinkwazibush installed a solar system with 12 x solar PV panels which produces 4kwh. This is enough to power the lights and plugs at the house and depending on the load or devices used will allow between 3-4 hours backup power.

Hi energy consumers like the Aircons, Electric geyser, oven and Jacuzzi had to be split from the solar backup. Please note that these energy consumers will not work during load shedding.

Due to the way the Hybrid system is designed, guest would not notice when the system changes between Solar and Grid power as this is managed by the inverter. In the event of load shedding at night, please try and keep your energy usage on the back up power as low as possible by switching off unnecessary lights and using e.g. the Stove to boil water instead of the kettle and not use the washing machine, Dishwasher and tumble drier.  Roof / wall fans have been mounted in all rooms which will run from the solar system in case of loadshedding or electric failure.   

What are the advantages of using solar energy?

Generating electricity from renewable energy instead of fossil fuels offers substantial public health benefits, as less air and water pollution is emitted by these coal and natural gas plants.

Solar power reduces reliance on fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. When fossil fuels are used to create electricity, they produce harmful gas emissions that affect the quality of air, water and soil. In contrast, solar energy produces no pollution.