Slash Your Bill and Power Up Your Peace of Mind: A Beginner’s Guide to Mini Off-Grid Solar Systems
Imagine this: you wake up to a power cut, but your morning coffee pot cheerfully gurgles to life thanks to the sunshine streaming through your window. Sounds pretty idyllic, right? Well, with a mini off-grid solar system, this fantasy can be your reality.
Forget about complicated whole-house setups – we’re talking targeted power for specific circuits, saving you money and providing a safety net during outages. Let’s dive into this sunshine-powered solution!
The Basics: Powering Your Priorities
Our mini system focuses on a single circuit within your home, like your upstairs lighting or a dedicated socket ring for appliances. It utilizes a 24v battery bank charged by a solar panel array. Here’s the magic:
- Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS): This nifty device seamlessly switches your circuit between solar power and the grid. When the sun shines and your batteries are full, you’re off-grid and saving money! During the night or cloudy days, the ATS automatically flips back to the grid, ensuring uninterrupted power.
Real-World Examples: Shining a Light on Savings
Let’s get specific! Here are two common circuits and the solar equipment you’d need to power them:
- Uplighting Your Savings:
- Average household lighting draw: 200 watts
- Inverter size: 300 watts (to handle surges)
- Battery size: This depends on sunlight hours and desired backup time. A typical setup might use a 100Ah battery for several hours of evening lighting.
- Fridge Power on the Double:
- Fridge freezer power draw: 300-600 watts (varies with size and model)
- Inverter size: Choose one that can handle start-up surges, so aim for around 1200 watts.
- Battery size: For a 24-hour runtime during a power cut, a 24v 400Ah battery would be suitable. Double the size for a 48-hour buffer.
Why Go Mini-Solar? Let There Be Light (and Savings)!
Mini off-grid systems are all about practicality and affordability:
- Save on Electricity Bills: By generating your own power for specific circuits, you’re reducing your reliance on the grid, especially during peak sunshine hours.
- Enhanced Backup Power: Power cuts won’t leave you in the dark (or fridge-less!). Your essential circuit remains operational, providing peace of mind.
- Small Footprint, Big Impact: These systems are perfect for smaller homes or those with limited roof space. They’re a fantastic way to dip your toes into the world of solar energy.
So, ditch the darkness and embrace sunshine-powered savings! A mini off-grid solar system might be the perfect way to light up your home and your wallet.
From Late February to October, there is normally enough sunshine power to charge and run a mini off grid system, Typically a small set up with a 24v battery system would have around 1.2kw of solar panels.
This would provide you with around 6Kwh of power per day! Your fridge freezer may only use 2.8Kwh.
You will probably want an electrician to carry out this installation, you would need to move the wires to the ATS from the consumer unit and attach the inverter. its up to you if you priority the solar for off grid, or use the grid and have the solar power as your back up.
We have made some kits up in the shop that should meet your needs and budgets. For anything else, please contact us for a consultation. #microoffgrid
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