Off-grid solar is a fantastic solution if you you don’t have access to mains grid power, or if you want a sustainable lifestyle. But it needs to be done right! There’s a lot to consider and plan – and a lot that go wrong if it’s not done properly. To save possible stress and expense, check out our 4 Biggest Mistakes when it comes to off-grid solar.

MISTAKE #1: BUYING A SYSTEM THAT SUITS YOUR BUDGET, BUT NOT YOUR NEEDS

Yes, it’s important to know that the price you pay is fair. Our Power Station systems are extremely competitively priced when comparing apples with apples.

But one of the biggest mistakes customers make is buying what they think they can afford – not what they actually need. It’s a false economy and can cause a multitude of headaches later down the track.  If you are buying a car, you can get away with spending based on your budget. After all, even a cheap car will get you from A to B. Off-grid solar is not the same.

Generally the size of the system affects the price. If you have expectations about power use that go beyond the specifications of the technology then you could be be disappointed. Exceeding power loads too frequently and asking too much of your battery bank and generator can harm your system.

It’s just not worth the inconvenience and the potential expense unless you are prepared to downsize your lifestyle and rely on your generator (which kind of defeats the purpose).

Our engineers help you get exactly what you need and help you understand the rules and mindset that it takes to run an off-grid system without stress and without risk to your investment.

We recommend that you invest in the biggest battery bank that you can afford, that your system can handle. Doing this will reduce anxiety, reduce over-use of a generator and wont compromise the battery bank. We’ll help you to calculate what you need, and what you don’t.

MISTAKE #2: NOT MODIFYING YOUR LIFESTYLE AND NOT LIVING WITHIN YOUR RESOURCE

If you are used to having mains power, or if you live in town, then you’ll be accustomed to on-demand electricity. Most people don’t even think about power as a resource that you need to manage. The only time you might consider power as a manageable resource is when you get a high power bill!

Off-grid is different. Yes, there’s no monthly bill, but you can’t just expect to live the same way and treat your solar system like an ‘on-tap’ never-ending resource.

If you have ever lived in the country on tank water, you will know that it needs to be considered a resource and managed during parts of the year when rain fall is low. Off-grid solar has to be managed too.

Conservation is the key. First you need to treat power as a limited resource and learn new habits to reduce power wastage.  There’s lots of ideas to do this, but could include:

• not leaving lights on
• not running electrical heating at night
• planning your use of power (for example understanding the power loads of different appliances and not using them at the same time if there’s a risk of exceeding capacity)
• When the weather is poor, put your feet up and read a book! Don’t do the washing, vacuuming or dishes
• Regular maintenance of your generator

The first step is designing a system that gives you what you need. And that’s where we can help.

MISTAKE #3: CUTTING CORNERS WITH THE BACK-UP GENERATOR

When your battery bank runs low, your back-up generator will auto-start and start replenishing the batteries. If you have a holiday home and you honestly only use it in mid-summer, then yes, you may not need a generator.

Problems arise if you have a property that you occupy full time or during the winter season. Don’t skip on investing in a generator because you think you won’t need one and don’t buy a cheap generator just to save a few bucks. It’s false economy and you may regret it. Here’s why:

We recommend a self-start generator of at least a 7 kVA output. The Honda models we recommend are competitively priced and super-quiet. A smaller generator may be a bit cheaper, but it will also be running far too often and for long periods just to keep up. Cheap generators can be noisy, inefficient (costly to run) and are not always designed for heavy use and can result in break-downs.

An under-sized auto-start generator that struggles to keep up which runs far too frequently, can be bloody annoying! Especially if you have neighbours in close proximity or if there are people in the house who like their sleep!

Using non-specified or non-recommended generators may also void your warranties on your system due to the risk and potential damage they can cause. We’re here to help you get it right and we can talk to you about your situation.

MISTAKE #4: IGNORING REGULAR MAINTENANCE

The quickest way for your off-grid lifestyle to turn to tears is to ignore regular maintenance especially when it comes to your auto-start generator.

The generator needs to be started once per fortnight for one hour to keep in good running order and replenish your batteries. You’ll also use this time to check the fuel supply.

The rest of your solar system is reasonably low maintenance but there are recommended service intervals which we can talk to you about.