Residential
Off-Grid
Learn more about residential off-grid solar systems and solutions offered by Empower Solar Australia.
What is Off-Grid?
Now that solar panels have been installed on the roof, an inverter is on the wall and there is battery-storage, can we proudly claim “we are energy self-sufficient and no longer require a grid connection”?
Not quite.There are some very important pieces which need to be added in this mix before we can be truly be energy independent or off-grid:
1) An off-grid bi-directional inverter charger
2) A backup generator
All grid-tied solar inverters are equipped with an anti-islanding function as a grid compliance requirement. This requirement means the solar inverter will be shut down when the grid is down (e.g. Unplanned outage or scheduled maintenance work etc).
Why Go Off-Grid
Things are quite different if you have your own home and family, isn’t it? You are on your own, the outgoings must be calculated, bills must be paid, you will need to have savings and maybe even multiple incomes to fulfill all these needs, all day every day. Exactly the same for the off-grid systems:
- Available 24/7, all seasons, all weather.
- Able to take on whatever load that we throw at it: from lights to microwaves to air big conditioners and massive bore pumps.
- Must be able to manage batteries, solar inverters, generators, and other energy sources (smartly).
For all the extra ‘smarts’ and ‘muscles’, the off-grid systems are significantly higher cost than typical on-grid systems.
The off-grid systems are the ultimate solutions for places that:
- Have an unstable grid supply (eg. bushfire prone areas, fringe/remote suburbs which out-dated infrastructure);
- Will cost a lot to establish a grid connection (from $30k to over $100k); or
- Simply no grid is available.
Self-Sustaining Lifestyle
Having solar panels and batteries means you can run completely self-sufficient homes
Lower Equipment Prices
As solar panels and systems become more popular, access to equipment is readily available
Long-Term Savings
Investing in solar panel systems will help you save on energy bills long-term
Great for the Environment
Solar systems can run an entire home and make better use of your clean energy
SOLAR CALCULATOR
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