An estate in KwaZulu Natal needed an off-grid solution to heat their geysers and reduce their electricity bill. For a pilot project, Rubicon supplied the APEX Solar Geyser System (SGS) – a smart hot water control device. Now the estate can manage when the geyser switches on or off and whether it uses solar or grid power to heat up.

Client requirements

Genset & Solar Power Solutions needed a solution for their client, an estate, that could function off-grid to ensure that geysers could be heated during loadshedding, using solar panels. They also wanted to solution to reduce their monthly electricity bill.

In addition, the solution will assist the estate to comply with SANS 10400-XA regulations, which mandate new developments to demonstrate their use of alternative power sources for heating water. At least 50% of hot water must be heated using a source of power other than the grid.

‍

The solution

We supplied an APEX SGS – Solar Geyser System – to Genset. The APEX SGS is a smart hot water control device with a patented probe, all designed and manufactured by Rubicon. The device reduces the load on the grid by determining which power source is used by a geyser, and when. By ensuring that a geyser uses solar power, rather than power from the grid, the APEX SGS saves on electricity bills. The APEX SGS can also be set to switch off (or only use solar power) during peak tariff times – saving on electricity bills, and in the case of estates, avoiding penalties for high power consumption during peak tariff times.

‍

The APEX SGS can be installed, by an electrician, on geysers of up to 33 litres with up to a 4kW element. No additional plumbing is required when installing it. The APEX SGS can be plugged into any system and can be installed retrospectively, even if no solar panels have been installed.

‍

Remote control and monitoring

The APEX SGS can be remotely monitored and controlled by various parties, namely, homeowners, installers, and entities.

‍

Through the Rubicon Monitoring app  , homeowners can monitor their water temperature and switch their geyser on or off, remotely.

‍

Installers or managers of a fleet of APEX SGS-controlled geysers, can monitor the fleet remotely. They will be able to see if there are any errors on individual devices and change settings for individual homeowners if required. The fleet manager can set all the geysers to not use grid power during peak tariff times but still ensure that the geysers heat up before this time so that residents still always have hot water. In addition, the fleet manager can ensure that only geysers that are at the lowest temperature start heating up from the grid directly after loadshedding. This staggered approach to switching geysers back on avoids massive peaks of energy consumption directly after loadshedding, and instead slowly increases the load on the grid.  

‍

If an entity such as a municipality or Eskom is connected to the APEX SGS, it can switch the device on or off to relieve pressure on the grid, if necessary.

‍

Results

The APEX SGS will be rolled out to 1,000 homes on the estate once the pilot project period is complete. The use of the APEX SGS is expected to reduce the estate’s energy usage by at least 30%. This should translate to a saving of up to 80% on their electricity bill.

‍

Training

Rubicon offers training on all APEX products, including the SGS. These regional training sessions are comprehensive, covering what’s in the box and installation, with the opportunity to ask questions.

‍