I had the opportunity to visit the Middle East Energy Exhibition in Dubai last week.
As usual, South Africa is a bit behind on the technology field. There is the normal Axpert Clone/rebranded inverters and so many new Lithium manufacturers (that i would still stay clear of), but there is quite a few inverter brands that is not yet represented in SA. I am sure they will be soon.
There is so many products, like solar panels that can be mounted around street light poles with round batteries that fit in the pole. The normal battery backup for street lamps will last 3 days without charging. I think stuff like that might come in handy here by us.
We identified a few products that we want to bring into SA that might prove useful here by us…
We are also busy negotiation deals with Tier one panel manufacturers on panels that’s not currently sold here.
Lead acid and gel batteries still are still sold in high volumes in Europe and the east, but to be honest, their grid is a lot more stable so the battery should reach its chemical design life over there.
As I work through all the data and as we make progress with our negotiations, I will post more details about the products, to test the general feeling of the guys spending time here.
NB, if anyone is planning a holiday in Dubai, you might want to reconsider and I would recommend removing that from your backet list, unless you dont have a problem with spending money. Everything over there is pretty expensive, one example is the price of a beer is R250 and a Cappuccino R125.
I am so exited. Bit i have a very dear friend that I don’t want to disappoint.
There is so many options… Inverters and batteries unknown to the common market. Products backed by the biggest company’s that’s is currently up for grabs. Products with a direct exchange pollicy, no questions asked. From battery’s to inverters.
Sunsynk failures might leed to a 2 month repair / exchange time… We offer products with a direct-- exchange policy.
Well. My blood is still blue, tainted yellowish by support, but till the docter heals me, I realize there is other options with better support.
My friend… Please forgive Me, no harm meant, but you know what I am talking about.
My biggest frustration with the blue team is the lack of NRS certification for anything larger than 5kVA. I have enquired through several channels and have been met with either a shrug or silence.
Is the South African market so small that even in the current electricity crisis we don’t matter?
When we looked at inverters in the last 3 months and we could not find NRS certificates we just asked the supplier, are you compliant to the German grid code. If the answer was yes, we replied “let’s talk”
I have experience with this when it comes to 2-way radios.
To be legally sold and used in SA, a 2-way radio, actually any wireless equipment has to have ICASA type approval.
Threw the years ICASA always accepted test certificates and standards from other countries, most often the FCC standard from America was used, since most manufacturers pretty much directly get FCC approval for their products even before launch.
So you would import a radio which you want to bring to market and then submit a type approval application at ICASA, with the FCC test certificate which you got directly from the manufacturer. No problem, R1000 odd and a week or 2, then the product was type approved.
Then around 5 years ago, ICASA suddenly no longer accepted FCC certificates, they suddenly asked for a test report from a independent approved testing house and of course, the CSIR is no longer geared to do such testing, so they are not even on the approved list.
One of the only labs or the least expensive anyway is a lab in Netherlands, suddenly you had to pay $15k to $30k to get a test report on a $25 radio.
These days some of the big boys where the manufacturer directly gets involved manage to eventually muscle ICASA to accept FCC testing certificates again, but they haven’t officially changed their policy yet, so it’s a ongoing battle.
Yup. The inverter makers have the same issue. When a new model comes out, it pretty much gets VDE 4105 certification first, then EN50549 (Europe), because not only are those the larger markets, that is also where the labs are and what they are geared for.
Australia and South Africa typically has to wait. I’ve seen the same issue with Fronius and Fimer. The very latest (and some of the older models) are never on the list.
@JacoDeJongh Are you guys by any chance looking at the street lights you mentioned which has the panel around the pole and the battery inside the pole?
I’m currently looking at off grid lighting options for a gate and signage board and frankly I never had confidence in the typical 12v solar security lights you get on our market.
I don’t think it would be really applicable for SA, get home and your wall has been stolen.
But nice out-of-the-box thinking for if your roof is full but your need to make more power
Stolen…or the kids playing soccer/cricket in the street (own kids in the yard) cracking a couple (don’t know if kids still do that - play cricket in the street - they obviously stilt break stuff).
