Cape Town’s older neighbourhoods are full of character: Victorian terraces, broekie-lace balconies, red corrugated roofs and narrow streets. They’re beautiful homes, but they come with their own challenges when you go solar. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how the Sundial Solar team installed a Fox ESS hybrid inverter and battery on one such heritage home, and why the details matter.
Watch the install
Install day: arriving and planning the job
Every job starts before a single cable is cut. Our team arrives in full PPE, walks the site with the homeowner and confirms where everything will go. In an older house that means working around period features, finding a sensible wall for the inverter and battery, and planning cable routes that stay tidy and out of the way.
Mounting the inverter and wiring the AC board
With the layout agreed, the Fox ESS hybrid inverter goes up on the wall and the AC side is wired into a dedicated board. Our installers take their time here: cables are cut to length, routed in conduit and terminated cleanly so the system is safe today and easy to service later.
Safety first: labelled DC protection
The DC side of a solar system carries real energy straight from the panels, so it needs proper protection. On this install we fitted a dedicated DC combiner with:
- DC fuses on each string
- DC surge protection to help guard against lightning and voltage spikes
- PV isolators 1 and 2, so each string can be safely switched off for maintenance or emergencies
Every device is clearly labelled. That’s not just neat; it means the homeowner, a future electrician or a firefighter can see at a glance what does what.
Panels up on the red tin roof
Up top, the panels are mounted on rails fixed to the corrugated roof sheeting, with care taken to keep the roof watertight and the array tidy from the street. Cabling comes down neatly to the DC combiner below.
The finished system: neat workmanship you can see
The end result: inverter, DC protection and AC board in a tidy row, with the Fox ESS battery below and cables in neat conduit. Then came commissioning, a walkthrough with the homeowner, and power on.
Why Fox ESS?
We like Fox ESS hybrid inverters and batteries for South African homes because they’re built for exactly what we need here: solar, battery storage and grid working together in one system. The battery keeps essentials running through load-shedding, the hybrid inverter makes the most of your solar during the day, and the system can be monitored so you can see what it’s doing. Fox ESS is also a well-supported brand, which matters for warranties and the long term.
Proud EnergyBee installation partner
Sundial Solar is proud to be EnergyBee’s installation partner in the Western Cape. We bring the same care you see on this job to every install: proper protection, clear labelling and neat, serviceable workmanship.
Ready to switch?
Whether you live in a heritage terrace, a modern family home or run a small business, Sundial Solar designs and installs systems that are safe, neat and built to last across the Western Cape.
It’s time to switch. Get your free solar quote at www.sundialsolar.co.za and let’s talk about the right system for your home.