Commercial solar array across a corrugated steel roof in daylight
Hybrid and off-grid solar in NSW, QLD and SA

UNPLUG

Off-grid and hybrid solar battery systems in NSW, QLD and SA

Every bill starts with a daily charge for the privilege of staying connected — before you switch on a single light. We design and install hybrid systems (solar plus a battery, with the grid as backup) and full off-grid power (no poles, no daily charge) for people who are done renting the grid. Own the system. Own your power.

Start here

Start a design

Postcode, on the grid or off it, a rough bill size, and a phone number. A designer calls you from Lismore.

Your details go to the install team. The privacy page covers what happens to them. The enquiry is filed under the phone number, because this form does not ask for a name.

Got it. Your enquiry is with the install team for a custom design. A person calls you back.
That didn't send. Call or text 0483 927 257 and we'll take it from there.
15 years in stand-alone power Smart Energy Council member Accredited local installers Lismore HQ · 0483 927 257
The daily fee

You pay before you flick a switch

Find the line on your last bill called the daily supply charge. Multiply it by 365. That figure lands every single year — in drought, in flood, on the weeks you were away — before one kilowatt-hour moves through the meter. And it only travels in one direction.

Fifteen years ago, people called us because they wanted off the grid on principle. The systems were dear and they paid anyway, because owning their power mattered. Today the grid makes the argument for us: the connection charges you rent every day of the year, feed-in tariffs keep shrinking, and the network you subsidise still browns out in the first big storm.

A properly engineered battery system flips the arrangement. Your roof generates, your storage carries the evenings and the outages, and the grid becomes a fallback you choose — or cut entirely.

The bill you never question

Daily supply chargeOn every bill
Days it landsAll 365
Electricity received for itNone

Grab your latest bill and run the multiplication. Whatever your number is, it's rent — and it rises without asking you.

Who this is for

Not the rebate-special crowd

“If you're hunting an interest-free banner and the cheapest box that qualifies, plenty of installers want that call. We build for people who want out — systems they own outright, sized for the life they actually run.”
Proof, not promises

Real systems on real properties

A recent complete off-grid kit — the “Shouse” build — runs a full-time small dwelling on 8 kW of panels, an 8 kVA inverter (the box that turns stored power into household power) and 14.36 kWh of lithium storage (how much energy the battery can hold), installed as one engineered kit. That's the scale of thinking we bring to every property, from shed conversions to full family homes.

Stand-alone storage has its own page: off grid battery design, from the loads to the brand.

8 kW solar8 kVA inverter14.36 kWh lithium

See the work

What customers say

Real customers, real reviews

Two reviews from Google are printed here, unedited, in the customers' own words.

“Mike was very helpful. Good practical information and assistance to help us reduce our costs and dependence on the grid.”

GarrettGoogle review · 2 months ago

“Mike and his team are extremely efficient and completely focused on delivering you an excellent experience in an industry currently full of cowboys.”

Matt DowdneyGoogle review · a year ago

“Knowledge and experience is honest and factual with no beating around the bush, down to earth. Mike from my perspective has great personal communication and has a desire to help people.”

Jim Cross

“What can I say, the guys at the Off Grid Shop have been nothing short of amazing from the moment I first enquired about getting a solar system installed. Bronson is so easy to chat with about the systems and always gives great advise on them. Mike has also been extremely helpful even though he has been traveling overseas during my purchase. He still takes the time to check emails etc., and then respond. Couldn't be happier with my purchase.”

Gary Abbott

“Mike and the team were an absolute dream to work with. Not only was the selection process made easy by his clear explanations, the ordering was seamless and simple. And then the top it all off, the delivery! In all my years I have never ever come across a more obliging helpful and efficient business/person. Mike, you take "customer service" to another level. And when we ran into an issue with installing the panels (because I didn't follow the instructions properly), Mike was quick to jump on a video call with me to walk me thru the installation. Thank you for arranging everything for us.”

David Krishnan
Why we're different

We don't run a warehouse. On purpose.

Most solar companies buy in bulk and then sell you what's on the shelf. We don't hold stock, so nothing in a warehouse ever decides what goes on your roof. We give up the container discount to keep that freedom, and it pays you back in ways a discount never does: the design is built around your property, not our inventory; every design is priced on the gear available the week it's ordered; and when one install slipped three months, the customer's 440-watt panels became 470-watt panels at no extra cost — because we hadn't bought the old ones.

Systems designed for the property, not picked from a catalogue. It's what we've always done. Start with the property, not the product →

Why don't you hold stock?

Because stock decides designs. A warehouse full of one battery makes that battery the answer to every question. We buy for each job, forgo bulk pricing, and keep the freedom to choose the best product for the property — and to upgrade it if the timeline moves.

Where the work happens

Designed in-house, installed locally

We design in Lismore. Accredited local partners install in NSW, south-east Queensland and South Australia. The partner network is growing.

NSW

Lismore head office · Northern Rivers · Tweed · Mid North Coast

South-east Queensland

Burleigh · Currumbin Valley · Mudgeeraba · Tamborine

South Australia

Adelaide Hills · Fleurieu · Murraylands

All service areas

Questions

Straight answers

How big a battery suits my inverter?

Plan on about twice the inverter size in battery. A 5 kW inverter pairs with roughly 10 kWh of storage, and a 10 kW inverter with roughly 20 kWh. That ratio is the rule of thumb we design to. Your loads and your winter set the final number.

Can a 9 kWh Sigenergy battery run a 5 kW inverter?

Not at full output. Sigenergy modules discharge at around 0.5C, so about 9 kWh of modules delivers about 4.5 kW. To get the full 5 kW, the design adds modules.

Why won't you build a small system?

An undersized system lets you down in the first cloudy week, and that's the week people remember. We'd rather turn the job down than build one. The smallest battery we've designed in recent years was around 24 kWh.

How do I get the most out of the federal battery rebate?

The Cheaper Home Batteries Program pays its full rate on the first 14 kWh of usable storage, a reduced rate from 14 to 28 kWh, and a small contribution from 28 to 50 kWh. A battery around 27 kWh gets you most of what the scheme offers. You only get the rebate once. If 27 kWh is out of reach right now, our advice is to wait, save, and keep a generator for backup in the meantime. The discount steps down from the end of 2026, and your design shows the exact figure as one line item.

What's the cheapest way to pay for a system?

In our view, a bank loan, a mortgage top-up or a green loan from your own lender beats a solar finance loan or an interest-free deal. You own the system outright, and the finance sits with a lender you already know. Talk to your lender first, then bring that number to the design.

Off-grid or hybrid: which suits my property?

Hybrid is solar plus a battery, with the grid as backup. You keep the connection, and you keep paying the daily supply charge. Full off-grid means no poles and no daily charge. We size it for winter and wire in a generator for backup. A new rural build or an unconnected block often suits off-grid. A connected home that wants blackout backup often starts hybrid, with the option to cut the wire later.

Who designs and installs the system, and where do you work?

We design every system in-house at our Lismore head office. Accredited local partners install it in NSW, south-east Queensland and South Australia. The business holds an electrical contractor's licence. Outside those regions, ask us and we'll tell you straight whether a partner can reach you.

Which brands do you design with?

We pick the gear after the design, so the property decides the brand. We work with Sigenergy SigenStor (a modular tower that starts near 8 kWh and grows past 40), Deye hybrid inverters, EcoFlow OCEAN 2 and Victron, which is where we started 15 years ago. Start with a custom design and we'll show you which one fits.

Ready when you are

Tell us about the property. A designer looks at your loads, your roof and your plans, then you get a straight answer and a fixed quote — no door-knockers, no pressure calls.

Get a custom design
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