Daily Energy Consumption Calculator: Complete

the YELLOW fields only. Enter the Qty/number of items you have in your home/building, and estimate how
many hours per 24 hour day the items are turned on. For example, 1 x large TV for about 4.5 hrs per day.
Please note you will never be able to operate every appliance listed here at the same time with solar energy
at a reasonable cost; you will need to first convert your house/building to use as many energy efficient
appliances as possible, such as LED lights. This calculator assumes you have/will get a local
plumber/company to install a separate solar hot water heating system, or use a heat pump as listed below.
For this reason, no geyser is included in these sizing calculations for a house/building solar power system.
(Please use numbering format of "1.5", not "1 1/2" in the table).

Standard Appliance/Item you Kilowatt Quantity Peak load Hours item is Energy
want to use on solar power rating you use in watts used in 24 used in
hrs 24hrs
LED Lights 5 0 0
Energy Saver Bulbs/Lights 14 0 0
Standard Lights 60 0 0
Standard Lights 100 0 0
Flouresent Lights 40 0 0
Small Floodlight 500 0 0
Standard Floodlight 1000 0 0
DSTV Decoder 100 0 0
Radio 50 0 0
Small Television 80 0 0
Medium Television 120 0 0
Large Television 250 0 0
DVD Player 40 0 0
Hi-Fi System 100 0 0
Hi-Fi System 250 0 0
Computer 120 0 0
Computer 250 0 0
Laptop 70 0 0
Modem 10 0 0
Network Router 15 0 0
File Server 500 0 0
Inkjet Printer 130 0 0
Laser Printer 400 0 0
Alarm System 30 0 0
Electric Fence 300 0 0
Electric Blanket 70 0 0
Fan 60 0 0
Room Heater (try use gas) 1000 0 0
Hair Dryer 1400 0 0
Small Fridge (compressor run hrs) 110 0 6.0 0
Large Fridge/Freezer (same) 200 0 6.0 0
Large Top-load Freezer (same) 160 0 6.0 0
Iron 1200 0 0
Kettle 2000 0 0
Coffee Machine 1200 0 0
Toaster 1400 0 0
Microwave 1300 0 0
Washing Machine 900 0 0
Tumble Dryer 2800 0 0
Dish Washer 2000 0 0
Oven (gas recommended) 3000 0 0
Small Hotplate (try use gas) 1500 0 0
Large Hotplate (try use gas) 2000 0 0
Vacuum Cleaner 1500 0 0
Electril Drill/Saw 600 0 0
Heat Pump 1200 0 0
Pool/Water Pump 750 0 0
Totals: The Calculator gives maximum/peak
load needed in watts, and daily power needed Peak Daily
to power everything you want to use, plus 20% power in consumption
fixed/system power losses. Final figure has to watts = 0.0 in watts = 0.0
be generated by the solar system every day.
Plus 20% losses = energy needed: 0.0

For example, a final figure of 20 000 watts, divided by 4 hours of full sun per day average (this is a
standard calculation), equals 5 000 watts minimum solar array size needed.

The above calculator calculates the Peak Power required, so in other words, how much power you need
when all of the appliances/items are on at the same time. This leads to the obvious conclusion that the
more items you want to power with solar, the higher the equipment specifications need to be, the more it
will cost you, and the longer your 'pay-back' time will be.

No matter how many appliances you have or want to be able to use, you will still need to manage your solar
power daily. For example, lets say your stand-alone/off-grid house solar system is designed to store
enough energy for 2 continuous days (this is called autonomy), and you have 2 very cloudy, rainy days in a
row. You will need to turn some appliances off, such as your heat pump, if you find you are drawing stored
energy too quickly by the start of the second day. So in other words, a house solar system is not a magic fix
for wanting to get away from Eskom/utility provider - you will need to change your home's appliances to
energy efficient ones, then manage your energy consumption on a daily basis, and change the way you do
things and your lifestyle. We supply many components to help you achieve this, such as monitoring
equipment for your battery usage and power management.

Here are some rough budget prices of solar energy systems to power various sizes of houses/buildings:
Rural hut/house - couple of lights, small fridge, TV, cellphone charger only: R15 000 - R30 000
Small house - kitchen, lounge, 2 bedrooms: R100 000 - R250 000
Medium house - kitchen, lounge, TV room, garage, 3 bedrooms, pool: R250 000 - R400 000
Large house - kitchen, lounges, TV rooms, garages, 5+ bedrooms, pool: R500 000 - R1 million

The cost of a solar house/building system will depend on several factors, including peak power needed,
how much power is used per 24 hours, size of the system, number of reserve power days needed
(autonomy), location, environment, and very importantly, the quality of the equipment used. You will be
making a large investment, so make sure the equipment will last. With solar equipment, cheaper is not
better. Please visit our website for more information.

Ecotech Energy, 10 Fechter Street, Knysna, Western Cape, South Africa