The advent and affordability of Solar PV panels together with rapid developments in battery technology mean that creating an off grid system is now more viable and affordable than ever before.
Whether it is for a whole house or for outbuildings, stables, agricultural buildings, beach huts and remote locations we can help you design a system that works for you and provides free green electricity enabling you to use normal domestic lighting and appliances without needing to go to the often lrge expense of connecting to the electricity supply network.
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See the solar PV section for a more detailed explanation of how solar PV works. Essentially Solar panels convert sunlight to direct current (DC) electricity, connected to a DC isolator. This is essentially an on/off switch that can turn off (isolate) the DC supply from the panels. The solar panel supply is connected to a Charge Controller which takes the power supplied by the panels and uses is to charge the battery bank in a controlled way to maximise the lifetime of the batteries. To create usable 240V power, the off grid system then uses an inverter. An inverter converts the DC electricity from the battery bank into alternating current (AC) which is required by household appliances, lighting etc.
Another isolator is fitted to the AC side of the inverter. This enables the output from the inverter to be quickly switched off if required. After this the AC power is fed into a standard Distribution Board (or Comsumer Unit) from which all the normal domestic circuits can be run.
The AC supply from the inverter is measured by a dedicated generation meter. This is fitted near your consumer unit (fuse board) in a position that enables easy access for reading, as this meter shows how many kilowatt-hours of electricity you have generated and you will need to report this figure to your energy supplier to claim your Feed-in Tariff. From the generation meter the AC supply goes to a dedicated RCD protected isolation unit. This isolation unit will be connected directly to the incoming supply thereby avoiding any interference with your existing Consumer Unit. This switch is the main on/off switch for the PV System. There are no moving parts in the system, so its operation is silent and will give you many years of clean, green electricity generation.