The never-ending cycle of load shedding and the rising cost of electricity has many South Africans throwing their hands in the air. It affects every aspect of our daily lives – from work schedules to missed deadlines, planning meals to getting the washing done. It also has many of us thinking of going off the grid. But where do you start?

One of the very first steps should be to determine how much energy you use per year. Also, what in your house is using this energy, and how much of it? This will help you determine the size of the system you need. More importantly, it would also give you the opportunity to replace energy guzzling appliances with more energy efficient appliances, in order to minimise your requirements.

Next, it would be wise to approach this process of going off the grid in stages. Doing it all at once could cost an arm and a leg, while also resulting in making some uninformed decisions.

Knowing how much energy you need, and which appliances need it, will allow you to plan the transition to go off the grid in manageable phases.

A good place to start is the geyser. In many households, a geyser can account for as much as a third of its energy usage. Changing your regular electricity geyser to a solar-powered geyser will allow you to eventually invest in a much smaller and more affordable PV system to power the rest of your house.

The next step would be to invest in a hybrid inverter and battery system that can be added to. This will allow you to expand your system over time as you understand your needs better and have the necessary funds available.

Lastly, make sure you are compliant by working with a trusted electrician and investing in good quality products, as non-compliance could pose dangers to your family as well as lead to insurance complications if anything were to go wrong.