How off-grid solar
works.
How off-grid solar works, in the order the energy actually moves: panels, a charger, a battery, an inverter, the house, and a generator for the stretch the sun misses. A hybrid system (solar plus a battery, with the grid as backup) uses the same path and keeps the poles.
Designed in Lismore · installed by accredited localsSix steps, one system
Panels
They make electricity while the sun is on them. The array is sized for your latitude and a dull week, not for a perfect day.
Solar charger
An MPPT — the box that harvests the array onto the battery — puts that energy into storage at a voltage the pack can take.
Battery
It holds energy for the evening and a run of cloud. The pack itself is the off grid battery. Chemistry, lithium or sealed lead-acid, is on lithium vs AGM.
Inverter
The box that turns solar and battery power into the 240 volt supply the house uses. It is sized for the moment a pump and a kettle start together, not only for the quiet average.
The house
Lights, a fridge, hot water, a pump, a workshop. Each load is a different job. The list of what stays on is the start of the design.
Generator
When the sun stays away longer than the battery was drawn for, the generator covers that stretch. The start rule is written on the drawing.
Poles gone, or poles as backup
Stand-alone removes the connection. Hybrid keeps it: solar plus a battery, grid as backup. Both are designed as a whole off-grid system, not as a trolley of parts. The gear comes after, from what we install.
Five mistakes, caught early
Sizing for January
A bright week is not the design day. Winter and a run of cloud are. If the drawing believes the sunny month, the dull month runs the generator as a habit.
A package before the loads
Off-grid system packages with batteries were a catalogue. The loads come first. The successor is a custom design on the off-grid systems page.
Forgetting the surge
Two motors starting together ask more of the inverter than the daily energy total suggests. The overlap is part of the load list.
Generator left unwritten
The darkest fortnight is part of the design, or it becomes an emergency. A start rule on the page is calmer than a guess in the dark.
The battery as the whole system
Storage is one piece. The array, the inverter and the generator rule sit with it. Start at the off grid battery page for the pack, then come back to the whole stack.
Where an install actually happens
We install where accredited installers are on the ground: Northern Rivers, Tweed, Gold Coast, Mid North Coast, and the South Australian towns on the areas page. Outside that map you get a straight answer, and we check whether a preferred partner can take the site on.
NSW Lismore · Ballina · Byron · Kempsey · Coffs Harbour · Grafton QLD Tweed · Burleigh · Tamborine SA Adelaide Hills · Fleurieu · Murray Bridge
A custom design, drawn for this place
If you are starting from the beginning, say what the house runs and whether the poles are going or staying. The design turns that into a system. The beginner picture on this page is the map. The drawing is the next step.
Prefer the longer form? Get a custom design. Prefer to talk it through? Call or text 0483 927 257 — Lismore HQ, local voices.
Beginner questions
How does off-grid solar power a house at night?
Daytime sun is stored in the battery. At night the inverter (the box that turns battery power into household power) runs the circuits from that store. When the sun stays away longer than the battery was drawn for, the generator covers the gap.
What is the difference between off-grid and a hybrid system?
Off-grid, in the stand-alone sense, removes the connection. A hybrid system is solar plus a battery, with the grid as backup. The pieces are the same family. The drawing says whether the poles stay.
What are the mistakes people make first?
Sizing for a sunny week, buying a fixed package before the loads are counted, ignoring the surge when two motors start, leaving the generator rule unwritten, and treating the battery as the whole system. Each one shows up on the drawing if the order of work is property first.
Does the battery on its own make an off-grid system?
Storage is one piece. The array, the inverter and the generator rule sit with it. The off grid battery page covers the pack. Off-grid systems covers the whole stack.
How do I start?
Send the form on this page, open the custom design path, or call 0483 927 257. Name, phone and suburb open it.