Thinking Going Off-Grid In The City? Perhaps Think Again

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Many Australians are keen to cut ties with electricity companies by installing solar panels and batteries with view to taking their homes entirely off the grid. And who could blame them?

The idea of energy independence is very attractive, but there are some very good reasons for keeping a mains grid connection.

This segment is from SolarQuotes TV Episode 9, which is all about off-grid living in Australia.

— Transcript begins

Finn: Now, here’s a question we get asked all the time.

“I’m fed up with paying a daily charge to access the grid. How do I tell my retailer to get stuffed and take my suburban house totally off the grid?”

Well, it’s certainly possible to go off grid in the city, and it has been done with varying degrees of success in recent years.

The example I’m going to take is in the Perth suburbs. It was built by a bloke called Martin Chape and he started the project way back in 2011. The system has evolved over the years, and now he’s settled on:

• 10kW of solar
• a 20kWh BYD battery
• a diesel generator
• a Selectronic SP Pro inverter to control the battery and genset¹.
• and a Selectronic-compatible Fronius Primo solar inverter

If you’d like a similar set-up on your home, professionally designed and installed, don’t expect much change from $50,000 – and you’ll still need to pay for diesel.

Forget Off-Grid In The Suburbs – Go Hybrid

So, now Martin has a system working nicely after many years of experimenting, what is his advice to others who want to go off-grid in the city?

Simple: Don’t – go hybrid instead.

Hybrid is simply solar, batteries and the grid connection. Martin has realised that if you have a grid connection available, you should absolutely use it as a cheap, silent backup generation source. It means you don’t need a dirty gen set, and you can get away with less expensive battery storage. And, there’s no need for a specialist off-grid design and install.

It will save you a fortune.

So, to answer the question that we get all the time:

“Can you go off-grid in the city?”

Yes, absolutely you can. The technology is available. It works brilliantly. But I wouldn’t.

I’d keep that connection to the grid. You’ll still get no bills, but you’ll have that grid connection and you can share your solar with your neighbours².

— Transcript ends

For more examples of Australians living comfortably off-grid, view SolarQuotes TV Episode 9. For other SQTV episodes and great videos on solar power and battery storage, visit our Youtube channel – and don’t forget to subscribe!

By the way, if you’re still keen an off-grid system for your suburban (or rural) home, it’s incredibly important to choose an installer with the right skills and experience. SQ can arrange for quotes from trusted solar professionals.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/off-grid-solar-city-mb2201/