Our Lights at Home are now 100% OFF the Grid – Aiming at a Greener Future

Intro

We replaced all the lights at home by:

• LED Solar Flood Lights and
• LED Flood Lights

LED Solar Flood Lights – Our Lights at Home are now 100% OFF the Grid

We fitted a number of outdoor solar flood lights around the house 25W, 60W and 100W. Because they have their own solar panels they are not connected to the electricity grid.

LED Flood Lights – Our Lights at Home are now 100% OFF the Grid

LEDs come in different shapes and designs. You will save a great deal of energy by using LEDs for example:

A 60-watt LED equivalent is 7-9 watts. A 100-watt incandescent bulb produces 1600 lumens of light, while a 12-14 watt LED gives off the same. 

Our LEDs are now connected to the Solar Installation therefore:

• during the day: LEDS use energy produced by large Solar Panels (solar panels -> Inverter -> LEDs).
• at night the LEDs use energy provided by the Battery (3Kw lithium Battery -> LEDs).

Background

Energy Crisis in South Africa

The South African energy crisis or load shedding is an ongoing period of widespread national blackouts of electricity supply. It began in the later months of 2007. 2023 has by far been the worst year of load shedding on record, having already passed total blackout hours higher than the past decade combined. South Africans endured a record-breaking 332 days of load shedding in 2023, signalling a severe escalation in the country’s power supply crisis.

Benefits and Objectives

Besides the many benefits of LED lighting our objectives were to:

• get off the electricity grid or at least minimize dependance on the grid and
• save energy.