Speaking from some experience, knowledge, IF:
And I’m dead serious too.
It is HOW you set your focus when you retire that makes all the difference.
I intend to be at my busiest for a few years yet.
A large off-grid solar capability is the first step to enable the rest of my ideas.
Hopefully, truly sitting back on the stoep, during the day is aways off yet.
In my opinion, (and I have seen empirical evidence of this) to retire to do nothing is to invite one’s early demise.
And now I see the government is putting a 10% tariff on panels.
Just in time for me to get fleeced.
Buy a pallet now… there are alot around - no loadshedding means people have “hesitated”
Yes, I have been onto Artsolar already, prices are still reasonable, but quotes are only valid for 5 days.
I need a 30-day valid quote for my time frame.
These were the best prices I found (after I had bought mine 
)
[ link ]
allegedly this application process started in 2017 although most info I find point to 2019.
More here:
What a poes company they are.
Years ago I bought Tenesol panels, locally manufactured in Cpt, drove there to collect my first panels.
They closed.
Whomever bought them over, also gone I think.
Want to make the industry work, the let Gov invest big bucks in local factories and jobs, tax bareaks, whatever to boost local production and make the money back from taxes paid by workers/VAT.
Artsolar is not gong to make a damn dent …
Yes, incentivise local manufacturers by offering tax breaks to them, not by inflating the price of all competitors. But ARTSolar knew there was no money for that, so why not promote something that hurts everyone by pushing up all prices.
Realistically, it’s hard for any local assembler to compete when many of the components are imported.
Either way, for me, I wouldn’t buy ArtSolar even if they were cheaper, I just don’t like this business practice.
There is no way you will compete with Chinese manufacturers when they are also the ones making the PV cells. A 10% duty will not make your assembly line competitive with a vertically integrated manufacturer.
I read about this this morning. What they have done is put a surcharge on cells that are assembled into panels. This is to protect local companies who import cells and then assemble.
I saw ArtSolar mentioned. They’re a company that imports cells and then assembles into panels, which is why they will have a price advantage now. They are also the company that originally applied for this protection for local assemblers.
At least they are still around.
Same here. While I totally understand that governments are worried about China unfairly killing overseas market without local companies having to be profitable (their government is helping), I still hate such lobbying that hurts everyone with many of the fibers in my being.
At least it is only 10%. It’s not going to make much of a dent, and it is far from the taxes that protect the textile industry (but still fails to really do so).
