Let the sunshine on power

I must say, I am impressed with the creativity and tenacity of my fellow South Africans.

A couple of mates have gone “off the grid” in recent months, with spectacular results.

Solar panels that can power a little village, inverters, batteries that weigh more than a baby elephant, flip switches, trip switches, relays, routers and a few hundred thousand rands later, they are self-sustaining.

I must admit, it’s all a bit geek to me, especially when it comes to ohms and watts and kVa and PVA and what-not.

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Some mates go even further with a generator to back up their solar, because you never know when the sun will disappear for a few days or weeks.

Don’t for a minute think that the off-grid gurus deny themselves any basics or luxuries.

Everything is on all the time – geysers, appliances, televisions, entertainment systems, even security cameras and electric fences remain on when Eskom is off.

My neighbour, on the other hand, took a completely different approach.

Every morning he gets up at 5 and makes a fire in his brand-new fire-pit. Out come the pots and drums filled with water.

By 6am their bath water is ready. Judged by the sound effects, it’s quite a mission carrying the boiling water in.

Then breakfast is made on the fire. Usually a pot of porridge, and off they go.

Early evening the routine is repeated. Dinner is cooked on the fire, more water is boiled, and dishes are done accompanied by dancing flames.

The last wood is added at around 8pm and by nine they’re all off to bed. What they do with refrigeration remains a mystery.

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To be honest, it does seem very romantic, the family around the fire every night, talking, laughing and sharing precious time together.

But I also realise that it is a lot of work. When I asked my neighbour about his off-grid commitment, he nearly wet himself laughing.

“We’ve been disconnected,” he said. “But just until payday, then I can settle my municipal account and we can get back to normal.”

As for me, I’m just sticking to the normal load shedding.