MyPR – Page 2

Why Solar Salespeople Are Compared to Snake Oil Salesman of Old

I think back to the first online adverts that I used to see for renewable energy systems like Solar Panels and wonder if they were the reason for a lot of scepticism.

Those adverts promised free electricity without mentioning the investment needed to generate said free electricity.

Now to the uninitiated the word ‘free’ conjures up easy street life with no worries and no special skills required.

I recall also the start of loadshedding 1.0 in South Africa – the number of quotations that I did every day was simply horrendous. Almost as horrendous as the strike rate of less than 1%.

I tried mightily to increase the strike rate by pre-qualifying client enquiries and warning prospective clients that in order to kick Eskom to touch they would need to spend – in those days – a minimum of R340 000 if they wanted battery storage of 14 kW plus an inverter and solar panels.

But, the desire to get FREE electricity blinded them to the real expenses.

Our country missed a really good opportunity to get rid of loadshedding much sooner if only they had heavily promoted my ‘hippy’ option, and introduced some form of incentive encouraging property owners to install Grid Tie Only – my ‘hippy’ option.

Grid Tie only is not only much cheaper but also shows a far quicker Return on Investment. The equation is simple – produce more than you use on any given day and that will reduce/negate your night time usage.

The ‘hippy’ option was quite straightforward:

Install and over panel with Solar Panels only
No battery (i.e still subject to loadshedding)
Allow your excess production to go to the grid to help support Eskom
If we had a 50 000 households each sending 10 kWh per day into the grid we could have gifted FIVE HUNDRED Megawatts per day to Eskom – not to mention the even larger savings from self consumption.

Eskom produces tens of thousands of megawatts daily, but a precise single number isn’t fixed; it’s a dynamic range, often in the 30,000-40,000 MW band, heavily impacted by plant performance and system constraints, with peaks and troughs daily.

For a solar system with batteries and enough capacity to be called off grid you will be paying around R300 000 today – this for a system at least three times in size of the first battery driven systems.

For most of these large, redundancy focused systems you can expect a return on investment to kick in in year 7 after installation.

The above ROI represents a 23% year on year Compound Annual Growth Rate – numbers that are horrendously impossible to consistently achieve using normal market investments.

Why Snake Oil Salesmen?

There is no such thing as a free lunch – even free air and food demands an investment.
Our loadshedding turned the purchase of a Solar System into an emotional grudge purchase.
Loadshedding drove the demand for a NOW solution rather than an informed solution.
Solar Salespeople more often than not promised the world and then delivered a small patch of sand.
Due to the pressure many fly by nights entered the industry and failed to understand the long term commitment required to service clients thereafter.

Links:

Boilerplate and Editor’s Notes.
More Info on Why Solar Salespeople are Compared to Snake Oil Salesman of Old here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StratonElectrical/

CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za.

Sourced With Compliments of MyPR

Want to Free Yourself From Municipal Electricity Bills?

AND have a redundant system!
Are batteries still viable in this ‘loadshedding lite’ pattern we find ourselves in?

I recently wrote an article comparing the average annual percentage increase for electricity in Nelson Mandela Bay and contrasted that with the average annual percentage increases for municipal employees and councillors. (Article here: https://mynmb.co.za/how-the-nmbm-contributes-massively-to-nelson-mandela-bays-financial-failure/)

That got me thinking about how we could zero our consumption at home and have a redundant Solar System.

Want to Join me to Free Yourself From Municipal Bills?

I have already taken the first step and prepared my Distribution Board for the installation of a Solar System (See: https://mypr.co.za/a-real-tale-of-the-cobbler-and-his-shoes/)

The second conversation is around monthly consumption – I find myself on the Top Tier and we consume around 1200 kWh’s per month.

I require a certain amount of redundancy so that means installing TWO inverters (and batteries if required).

I need to produce around of 40kwh’s per day.

That would mean around 12kw of PV Panels which is approximately 22 panels.

The redundancy idea also gives the ability to utilise an east, north, west orientation (with four MPPT’s)

A 30 – 40kWh battery bank will carry us through the night and on cloudy days.

The above setup, with two 12kW inverters will produce from 40 – 65kwh’s per day in summer – allowing for top up and self consumption.

My flatlet tenants consume around 450 units of electricity per month – so that will increase my recovery on the upfront investment a bit faster.

There are two suggestions as to equipment:

2 x Sunsynk 8kW Hybrid Inverters plus 6 x 5.12kWh batteries plus 20 x Tier 1 Solar Panels OR
2 x 12kw Sigenergy Hybrid Inverters plus 4 x 8.06kWh Sigen Battery Modules plus 22 x 550W Tier 1 Solar Panels

Estimated pricing (Including BoS, Cabling and Labour):

Sunsynk: R237 900 – R283 500.
Sigenergy – R282 000 – R348 000.

As Straton Solar are installers of both models my preference is for the Sigenenergy range.

Should I opt for the highest estimated amount of R348 00 then it will take me 7 years to recover that investment.

BTW – In year 7 the price of electricity (increased by 12% per annum) will be R9.02 per unit.

Next step is to get the Solar Panels up, breathe for a bit and then do the inverter and battery combinations.

Links:

Boilerplate and Editor’s Notes.
More Info on Want to Free Yourself From Municipal Electricity Bills? here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StratonElectrical/

CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za.

Sourced With Compliments of MyPR

If Your Article Fits These Criteria Then Your Featured Submission Is Free

We are offering free Featured Press Release publication to any article that fully encapsulate the following guidelines: Journalistic in style, Unique, Topical, Entertaining, Newsy, NOT an ad (or even a sniff of an ad) and to be Published FIRST on MyPR

In essence we are seeking to showcase and heavily promote articles submitted to MyPR that closely follow what Alfred Harmsworth (the Lord of Northcliffe) said about the news:

“News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising.” ~ Lord Northcliffe

Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (1865–1922) was a hugely influential British newspaper owner and proprietor of titles such as The Daily Mail and The Daily Mirror. His quote perfectly encapsulates the adversarial and investigative role he believed the press should play in holding power to account, separating genuine news from self-serving public relations material.

If you think that your article falls under the above guidelines then please use THIS form below to submit it. In turn and in addition to our normal promotion, we will also heavily promote DIRECTLY to some of our trusted journalists looking for genuine news. Don’t be fooled into thinking that we are only looking for investigative journalism scoops – unique news comes in many forms.

Suggestions: Sport/Culture Reports from your local school or club, Praise or condemnation for local municipalities, Celebrating a local achievement – you get the drift.

Please Log in to your MyPR Account and then submit at will. We will ONLY publish articles submitted by you as the Logged In user.

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Don’t Let Black Friday Turn Your Bank Account RED: A Guide to Avoiding Online Scams

Don’t Race to the ‘Buy Now’ button
Simple way to create a Bulletproof password
Black Friday can end in disaster – here’s how to avoid that

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the entire festive shopping season are a golden opportunity for savvy shoppers to grab incredible deals. Unfortunately, they’re also a prime hunting ground for scammers, phishers, and other online miscreants looking to exploit the rush and excitement. As you navigate the digital aisles, staying vigilant is your best defence.

Here’s how to protect yourself and ensure your Black Friday savings don’t become a scammer’s gain.

Be Wary of “Too Good to Be True” Deals

This is the golden rule of online shopping. If a deal seems impossibly good, it probably is. Scammers often dangle unbelievably low prices on high-demand items to lure victims.

Action: If an item is listed significantly below its market value across other retailers, proceed with extreme caution. Research the seller independently.

Scrutinize Emails and SMSes: Phishing is Rampant

During peak shopping seasons, your inbox and phone will be flooded with promotional messages. Phishers mimic legitimate brands to trick you into revealing personal information or clicking malicious links.

Check the Sender: Look closely at the “From” address. It should match the official domain of the company (e.g., support@amazon.com, not amazon-deals@gmail.com). Slight misspellings are a common tactic (amaz0n.com vs amazon.com).

Hover Over Links (Don’t Click!): Before clicking any link, hover your mouse over it (on desktop) or long-press it (on mobile) to see the actual URL. If it doesn’t match the expected website, it’s likely a scam.

Look for Red Flags: Generic greetings (“Dear Customer”), poor grammar, spelling mistakes, and a sense of urgency (“Act now or lose out!”) are classic phishing indicators.

Go Directly to the Source: If an email announces an amazing deal, don’t click the link. Instead, open your browser and type the retailer’s official URL directly (e.g., www.stratlec.co.za) to verify the offer.

Verify Websites: Is it Legitimate or a Look-alike?

Fake websites are designed to steal your payment information or deliver counterfeit goods.

Check the URL: Ensure the website address is correct (e.g., www.woolworths.co.za, not woolworths-store.co). Look for https:// at the beginning, indicating a secure connection (though even scam sites can have this now).

Look for the Padlock Icon: A padlock symbol in the browser’s address bar indicates an SSL certificate, meaning your connection is encrypted. However, this alone doesn’t guarantee the site is legitimate.

Website Quality: Assess the site’s overall quality. Poor design, low-resolution images, broken links, and bad grammar are red flags.

Contact Information: Legitimate sites will have clear contact information (phone number, physical address, email). Test them if unsure.

Use Secure Payment Methods

How you pay can make a big difference in your protection if a scam occurs.

Credit Cards: Credit cards often offer strong fraud protection and chargeback options, allowing you to dispute unauthorized or fraudulent transactions.

Reputable Payment Gateways: Use trusted gateways like PayPal, PayFast, or Peach Payments. Avoid direct bank transfers, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency payments to unknown sellers, as these are almost impossible to reverse.

Avoid Saving Card Details (Unless Highly Trusted): While convenient, saving card details on less-frequented or new websites increases your risk if their security is breached.

Protect Your Personal Information

Be stingy with the information you share online.

Only Provide Necessary Information: Legitimate retailers only need information relevant to your purchase and shipping. Be suspicious if they ask for your ID number, bank account details (beyond payment for the transaction), or other sensitive data unnecessarily.

Strong, Unique Passwords: Use strong, unique passwords for each online shopping account. Consider a password manager.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Enable 2FA wherever possible (e.g., for banking apps, email, and major shopping accounts). This adds an extra layer of security.

Create a Long Password for EACH Web Site Account – A Bulletproof method

Suggestion – choose a core set of letters, number and special characters as a BASE for your password, e.g. TwoWords!@#456, then apply a standard set of rules based on the web site that you find yourself on, e.g. Insert web site name after the exclamation mark AND the domain identifier at the end – using this method your password for Fraud Alert will be: TwoWordsFraudAlert!@#456.co.za. And there you have an easy to remember long password that allows you to have a UNIQUE Password for EVERY web site you visit.

In that way you also have an audit trail to see where a password leak occurred.

Be Cautious with Public Wi-Fi

Avoid Sensitive Transactions: Public Wi-Fi networks (coffee shops, malls) are often unsecured, making it easier for criminals to intercept your data. Avoid making purchases or accessing banking details on public Wi-Fi.

Use a VPN: If you must use public Wi-Fi, use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to encrypt your connection.

Monitor Your Bank Statements

Regular Checks: Keep a close eye on your bank and credit card statements during and after the Black Friday period.

Report Suspicious Activity: Report any unauthorized or suspicious transactions to your bank immediately.

Be Skeptical of Social Media Ads

Scammers frequently use social media platforms to promote fake deals.

Research the Seller: Don’t blindly trust an ad because it appears in your feed. Click on the seller’s profile and check for legitimacy (age of account, reviews, follower engagement, professional content).

Look for Reviews: Search for reviews of the company or product outside of the social media platform.

Black Friday offers incredible opportunities, but a little extra caution goes a long way. By being vigilant, skeptical, and following these guidelines, you can enjoy the thrill of securing great deals without falling prey to online scammers. Happy (and safe) shopping!