Off Grid systems
Planning an off-grid renewable energy system involves several key considerations to ensure efficiency, reliability and sustainability.
​
A well planned system will keep you with energy the whole year around, in winter there will most likely be a generator involved. Unfortunately, the weather in the United Kingdom is against us, a solar array for example, will not supply you with sufficient energy all year around. If you are lucky to have a stream to run a small hydro power supply or enough land to place a wind turbine then you will most likely be able to run "off -grid" most of the year. Having a generator keeps that peace of mind if resources become scarce. This does happen, we have periods of no sun, no wind for two or three weeks. If this happens in winter then it can get uncomfortable without any heat or lighting, let alone not being able to cook warm food and drinks.
​
Load Analysis: It is utmost important that before anything else is started, the energy consumption and peak demand is calculated. this includes identifying all the appliances and devices you plan to power and their usage patterns. At this stage it would be important to implement energy savings measures to reduce the overall consumption required.
​
Resource availability: The most obvious source of energy is the sun, so solar becomes a big part of your off-grid system. Solar is also the easiest and probably cheapest way to start your off-grid journey and sun is available for a few hours even in Winter - unless you happen to live in the extreme Northern Hemisphere.
Wind turbines can be used to back up a solar powered system but it is to be mentioned, micro turbines are very inefficient, just because the Turbine is labelled 1kW, it will not produce 1kW of power, taking into account Betz Law which accounts for the maximum kinetic power you can get out of a turbine which is 59.3%, then deduct the rest by 50% mechanical losses and wiring losses. You are left with a 296W power output - by best wind, which cannot be expected all the time. With a wind speed of 5 meters per second or 11 mph/18 kph, the output will be minimal, probably around 100W maximum.
Many people believe we have a decent wind blowing 24 hours a day, this is far from the truth, one of our 600W turbines sits down on the Dorset coast, the wind speed right at this moment is 6 m/s or 13mph/21kph. The output is less than one amp, far from ideal to charge a battery bank.
​
Other sources of power, for example hydro power or biomass can be connected with your solar if available.
​
Most important will be a battery bank, once it goes dark, you will need a reliable power supply to heat and cook, the minimum to have some light source. There are various types of batteries to choose from, from lead acid, AGM or lithium, it will need to be decided beforehand which battery type will be used as every battery has its own requirement to charge. Each type of battery has its own pros and cons.
​
Financial Planning: The initial costs will have to be carefully considered, off -grid systems are not cheap, using reliable equipment is key to success. Buying cheap usually leads to more expense in a short period if you are unlucky. Batteries are expensive so your system needs to be setup so that the batteries are not damaged by overcharging.
​
System maintenance, looking after the kit is extremely important. If batteries are mistreated, they will not last, if you hydro turbine or wind turbine is not maintained properly, it will not last.
​
Then, the last point to look into, how do I monitor my system or do I want to monitor my system? Do I need a display or an app, does the location have a Wi-Fi signal to connect to?
Personally, I would want to monitor any system to make sure it runs smoothly and generates the power requirement I have, it also gives the information, how much power do I have left, if the battery is depleted, then things need to be turned off. In worse case, maybe an early bed time!
​
We can help: Yellow Energy Consultancy Ltd have plenty of experience with off grid system. Some have been running for years without problems. We can help design your system and supply you with the equipment if you are a DIY type of person or we can design, supply and install the whole system for you.
Should you wish to have a consultation, please contact us with the form below.
​
We plan to run off-grid courses from next year. Again, if you are interested in attending a one day off grid systems course, please contact us and we will send out details once we have dates.
​
​
​
​
​