Remote power systems are ideal for providing energy to rural properties, holiday homes, alternative power systems and small community power supplies. If you live in an area where there is no electricity and connecting to the electricity grid is not an option, most likely it is far too expensive!  The UK is unusual in that it experiences good wind conditions so wind power is certainly viable. Coupled with sunshine, a solar and wind solution provides a reliable, safe, environmentally friendly and user-friendly source of electricity for a very long time.  A solar and./or wind power solution will need little maintenance simply because there are no moving parts.  Component failure is very rare and come with superb guarantees, solar panels offer a 25 year warranty as standard. Best of all, you are generating your own electricity for free!

With an off grid system you will need somewhere to store the generated electricity and this is usually stored in batteries.  The battery bank provides electricity at night, and during periods of cloud cover.

Remote power systems are installed for a range of reasons, including:

• expensive grid connection;

• desire to use renewable energy;

• low running costs;

• environmentally safe - no overhead wires;

• desire for independence from the grid.

Systems can comprise of a stand-alone pv system and wind turbine, solar pv system.

Stand-alone solar (only pv) systems require high availability and so systems are often oversized, to account for long summer short winter sunshine. Over sizing is expensive, but may be necessary for applications in remote areas,  On the other hand, house design and orientation, plus a planned maintenance schedule and careful choice of energy sources and appliances are of critical importance.

General suggestions and rules with off-grid systems.

Do not use renewable energy sources for:

• cooking - microwave ovens can be used;

• hot water - use proper solar thermal system;

• space heaters;

• clothes drying;

• air-conditioning.

Fridges may be used, buy you have to be careful to use only energy efficient appliances.

NOTE: never leave appliances in standby mode.

You can check the performance of Solar PV for your AREA, REGION or COUNTRY anywhere in Europe.

If you want even more detail then the NASA website can be used to find weather and solar energy data

The choice between AC and DC Systems

Homes connected to the electricity grid use AC power for all appliances. For remote power systems this may not be the case as DC appliances are very efficient and using DC appliances means that an inverter is not required.  DC systems do require heavier cabling and switches and the range of appliances is much smaller.

Lights

Do not use incandescent lights for lighting as they are totally hopeless and inefficient. Fluorescent lights are about four time more efficient than IL. LED are also now an option to be considered.

Fridges and Freezers

These are energy consumers on a vast scale so choose carefully. Make sure your fridge has an high efficiency rating and choose the smallest one possible to meet your needs. Use a DC fridge if you can.

Microwave ovens

These are the only ovens that should be used with a remote power system.  Wood or gas stoves should be considered.

Dishwashers

Use only those that connect to both the hot and cold water systems as they use about 30% less energy than those connected to only to the cold water supply with an internal heater. Connection to the hot or cold system is decided upon by how the water is heated. If the remote power system supplies energy to heat the water then connect to the cold water supply. If water is heated by solar thermal system then connect to the hot water system.

Home Entertainment Systems

Even though TV's, hi-fi systems, videos etc are low power users they can be used for long periods of time so make sure you are energy efficient.

General Kitchen Appliances

The kitchen can be a nightmare for deciding upon which appliances to use. Think of all the appliances used: kettles, toasters, washing machines, electric knives, microwave ovens, radios, telephone - permanently switched on. A recipe for disaster.  If a diesel generator is used for backup or additional power requirements then run the heavy loads in synchronization with the generator.

Appliances with electric motors that require heavy starting currents (sometimes up to 5-6 times the rated power use) should not be used with an inverter, but directly from the generator.  There are inverters that are able to cope with high transient (start-up) currents and of these only use pure sine wave inverters.

Hybrid System Design

Using a mixture of systems, solar and wind powered systems, there are a number of factors to take into account.

What are the components of an off-grid solar power system?

There are five main components of an off grid system. 

• Solar panels and/or wind turbine

• Solar panel mounting frames and kits

• controller

• Battery bank

• Power Inverter

A customised system has a lot of options and we can offer a wide range of products to suit all requirements. These include:

Wind Turbine	-->	Solar Panels	-->	Charge Controller	-->	Battery Bank	-->	Power Inverter	-->	Mains Electricity