With electricity becoming such an issue in South Africa, a very popular ‘investment’ is to move to a solar power solution, to reduce the reliance on the Eskom grid.
The Solar Power viability calculator (link below) allows you to calculate the true viability of the system from a purely capital cost i.e. turning the total cost of the system into an equivalent monthly cost so that you can get a sense of what it is costing you.
The basic information required is:
Cost of the Solar Power system– we have used R300 000, but you can change it to match your quote.
The anticipated life of the solar power system (it does not last forever, batteries will need to be replaced as will the panels).
The interest rate on your current mortgage. Even if you are not planning on taking out a loan, you would be able to do something else with the money, so this is a fair ‘opportunity’ cost of using the money.
The end result is a monthly cost. From a calculation point of view it is the ‘loan’ repayment you would need to make to fund the system. This should be compared to you existing electricity cost. Any differences are therefore the cost of the convenience of not relying solely on Eskom.
Click here to view the Solar Power Feasibility Calculator