Today was meant to be the big day when we switch on our solar system, but that will have to wait until Monday. The lugs I got yesterday turned out to be the wrong ones and they will only have stock of the battery ones in late February. We managed to find the ones we required, but had to buy the entre unit that also included cable which we already had ($100). I cannot complain as this project was so far under budget an extra $100 was required to finish it off or close to completion.

Charging The Batteries

The good news is the batteries are already charging and what needs to happen next is the connection to the DB (distribution board) and what ever configuration we require. The plan is to go with a separate solar geyser installation but have been told I could use a CBI switch instead. Not 100% sure what this all means so will wait and see what is best.

This post is more about the costs of installation than the solar system being partially operational. The installation fee was not something that was ever discussed as I kind of had a figure in my head after a friend had his factory kitted out. He had actually phoned me last night asking how much it was costing and told him they have literally been working for less than 3 days so it had to be under R20K or $1.1K. He is about to put this exact same system on his house and was wanting a final cost. Wait until I tell you what the real cost is as it will blow you away as I was left speechless.

If tis was done anywhere else in the Western world I would hate to even guess what type of figure we would be discussing. In the UK or US labor is expensive and a rough guess would be anywhere between $2K and $4K for 3 days work. Everything is relative to the economy and to the cost of living so it is unfair to compare, but I do find this part interesting. This is a bit like comparing McDonalds prices around the world.

The price I was quoted today was R10K which is roughly $550 and that comes with a certificate of compliance. A call out fee today in SA for any service before labor and materials will cost you roughly R700. R10K is seriously cheap and good value for money for what these guys have done. I am not going to haggle even though I know this could have been done in two days after watching what they have done.

What is as clear as day now is how much these other companies are charging now I know the real trade prices. My entire installation will cost less than R225K when converted $12K or £10K. The other units being sold with installation included of a similar spec and size will be between R375K and R400K. That is some serious profit and you kind of have to ask yourself why. Doing 2 units of a similar size per week these companies are earning decent money. Surely they would be better off charging less and being booked up for months in advance.

I do think some people have no clue on the value of money and do not do their homework thoroughly. This could have been an extra R150K spent if I was not so thorough which is kind of scary to think others are happily spending that type of money.

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