Solar & Battery Storage

How we size a system

We do not sell fixed packages. Before quoting we work out what you need to run and for how long, because a house carrying a borehole pump, geyser and air conditioning needs a very different system to one running lights, Wi-Fi, a TV and a fridge.

What we look at:

• Every appliance you need to keep running, its draw and its hours
• How long you want to run without sun or grid
• Motor starting loads from pumps, compressors and power tools
• Roof orientation, pitch, shading and structure
• Budget, and where a system can be expanded later

If your budget will not cover the whole load, we will tell you which loads to leave off rather than undersizing the system and letting you find out in the first cloudy week.

Types of system

Grid tied

Solar feeds your building alongside ZESA and reduces what you draw from the meter. It is the cheapest way to cut a bill because there is no battery, but on its own it gives you nothing during an outage.

Hybrid

The setup most Harare properties want. Solar and battery work with the grid. Sun charges the battery and runs the load, the grid tops up when needed, and when the supply drops the changeover happens without you noticing. Lights do not flicker and computers do not reboot.

Off-grid

For farms, lodges, clinics, boreholes and properties with no reliable connection. Everything comes from panels and storage, so the sizing has to be right.

What we install

• Inverters. Hybrid and off-grid units matched to your load and surge
• Lithium batteries. LiFePO₄ storage, expandable in modules
• Solar panels. Supply, roof and ground mounting, tilt frames
• Protection kits. DC and AC isolators, breakers, fusing, surge arrestors and earthing
• Changeover and essential load boards
• Monitoring, so you can see production and battery state

Solar borehole pumping

One of the best value solar applications in Zimbabwe. A solar array drives the borehole pump during daylight and fills elevated storage, then gravity does the rest. No battery, no fuel, and water whether or not the grid is up. See boreholes and water systems.

Solar geysers

Water heating is usually the biggest electrical load in a home. Moving it to a solar geyser takes that load off both your bill and your battery, which often means a smaller and cheaper inverter system does the same job.

Why some installations fail early

Panels rarely fail. What fails is everything around them:

• Undersized or unprotected DC cable, and no surge protection on the array
• Batteries discharged deeper and more often than their rating allows
• An inverter sized on running watts with no allowance for motor surge
• Poor earthing, so the first serious storm takes out the electronics
• Everything wired to the system instead of a separate essential load board

We fit the protection as standard rather than as an optional extra. A burnt inverter in year two costs everyone more than the isolator that would have prevented it.

Servicing and expansion

Systems need occasional attention. Panels washed, connections checked, battery state reviewed and settings adjusted as your usage changes. We service what we install, and we will assess a system somebody else installed and tell you honestly where it stands.