Many homeowners are looking for backup solutions during load shedding and unexpected power outages. Most of them are thinking about going Off-Grid with Solar Power – a renewable energy system that has enough storage for their daily electricity needs and can disconnect from Eskom. However, can you really do this? And what are the things you need to know about going off-grid with a solar system?
The benefit of Off-grid Systems
The benefit of going off-grid is that your home or business can have complete autonomy from Eskom. There would be no reliance on Eskom in any form, and most clients that chose to go off-grid have an energy mix between solar, batteries, and generators. The load profiles vary based on homes and are subject to clients’ budgets, energy use patterns, and use cases (e.g. farms or businesses with heavy daytime use during sunlight hours tend to be the first to consider off-grid applications).
The Best Off-grid Power Solution
Though “off-grid” is becoming a buzz word of sorts due to Eskom’s unreliability, the reality is that going off-grid is expensive. That is because instead of planning for 2-8 hours of backup during loadshedding, when choosing to go off-grid clients must plan for designing a home or business for up to three days of autonomy. This means if it rains for three days straight or energy use is higher than average, the appropriate amount of batteries must be incorporated into the design… And batteries are the most expensive part of any solar system. Thus, most clients chose to go “60-70” off-grid and add batteries and panels as they understand their energy use more, turning the script on Eskom, and utilizing its availability as another source of charging batteries. Going off-grid also may imply a lot more costly backup scenarios for non-essential loads such as electric ovens, laundry machines, geysers, pool pumps, etc.
Conclusion
Going off-grid is a big jump for most homes and businesses and the appropriate analysis of the energy use and budget analysis must be considered. Though changes to the lifestyle use (daytime use) may be important in helping make this decision, it’s important to plan for at least 3 days autonomy when designing an off-grid system. There are pros and cons to going off-grid 100%. Contact us or Request a Quote with us today to find out the best solar system solution for your home or businesses.
