{"id":90547,"date":"2025-04-17T12:19:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T02:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=90547"},"modified":"2025-04-17T15:36:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T06:06:27","slug":"off-grid-in-suburbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-grid-in-suburbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Off Grid in the ‘Burbs? That’s FreeDumb"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Man<\/p>\n

Every week without fail we see multiple comments, quotes or exasperated exclamations along these lines;<\/p>\n

“BUGGER THIS; I’M GOING OFF GRID..!”<\/p>\n

It’s a natural reaction to a nasty power bill and expresses a desire to be independent and free of obligation. But becoming your own power company is expensive, fraught with risk and really doesn’t make sense.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Living The Dream<\/h2>\n

Some people think “going off grid” is a great idea. As an off-grid installer for 15 years, I can assure you it’s not all beer and skittles.<\/p>\n

Many years ago, an electrician mate of mine had a dispute with SAPN and decided he could live in the city without that dirty rotten grid electricity. He was going to rely on solar power and his own wits, which were considerable as he was an experienced electrician with solar and battery endorsements.<\/p>\n

In those days, 24 flooded lead-acid batteries weighed a tonne and a half and needed regular distilled water replenishments. Sourcing them as ex-Telecom phone exchange batteries did make some economic sense, though.<\/p>\n

\"flooded

These flooded lead-acid batteries have seen better days.<\/p><\/div>\n

Solar was still well over $5\/watt, meaning his array was modest but he didn’t have a generator for backup because the neighbours would lynch him if they had to endure a genny wailing all night.<\/p>\n

His key to system reliability was the red switch at the front door, it shut down everything except the fridge and the porch light. Why? well when “someone” left a hair curling iron on over the weekend, that was enough to fully deplete his battery.<\/p>\n

Imagine the deflated feeling you get when your car won’t start because the battery is flat… but it’s your house so it’s even worse.<\/p>\n

Everyone Needs Backup<\/h2>\n

There’s really no escaping the fact that reliability relies on redundancy. When you zoom out to the scale of Australia’s main grid, there’s dozens of generators making up the supply of electricity, but some of them aren’t doing much work. Rather, they’re operated as a live insurance policy mandated by the Australian Energy Market Operator.<\/p>\n

Effectively, these generators are sitting there idling, ready to go when some transmission assets blow down or the Calide coal burner blows up; again and again.<\/p>\n

In the old days, this extra capacity was called “spinning reserve”, and it involved keeping coal fires burning with steam on hand, ready to throttle on at a moment’s notice.<\/p>\n

\"generator

Coal-fired steam at Lidell kept this rotor spinning at 3000rpm. Weighing literally tonnes, its inertia kept grid frequency under control.<\/p><\/div>\n

Under the current system, there’s a market for what’s technically called Frequency Control and Ancilliary Services (FCAS), and generators will be paid for both the amount they have available and whether they can deliver it in under six seconds or under six minutes.<\/p>\n

These FCAS services are faster and more accurate using grid-scale batteries. Without all the machinery and mining, they’re cheaper to run, and they collectively save us millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

You Need Backup Too<\/h2>\n

Even the most modest user will find there’s a long week in winter (or a cyclone<\/a>) when a succession of cloudy days hobbles solar input. Cold weather also means water and space heating demands are higher.<\/p>\n

Your system might be designed to furnish 10kWh per day, with 20kWh of battery for two days of autonomy. On cloudy day 3, you’ll need backup, or you’ll find your freezer thaws and your battery warranty is rendered void.<\/p>\n

In a remote area, it would be a diesel generator, but the grid is quieter, stronger, better quality and 99.998% reliable by law.<\/p>\n

\"small

A whirlygig might be cute but if you find a viable wind generation site, it won’t be a nice place to live, nor will any installer want to deal with integration.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Grid Is Cheaper<\/h2>\n

Seasoned installers will explain remote area power is not free. It’s worth setting up an automatic savings plan, putting aside what you would normally pay for an electricity bill to give you a budget for the rainy day you’ll need to call for service or replace the batteries.<\/p>\n

In terms of generators, maybe you can get away with a petrol one \u2014 the cheap unit with a pull string that powers your camping trip might benefit from being used more regularly.<\/p>\n

\"broken

Generators vibrate, rattle & fall apart, becoming unreliable as they age<\/p><\/div>\n

However, a proper 15kVa 3-cylinder diesel genny is a $15,000 capital cost. It’ll need a cranking battery replaced every few years and you’ll have to haul fuel in jerry cans or pay for bulk delivery.<\/p>\n

A professional service from a mobile mechanic, with filters and oil included, will almost certainly cost more than a daily access charge for the mains power you already have.<\/p>\n

The Grid Makes Your System Cheaper<\/h2>\n

Not everyone realises how difficult it is to start an electric motor. However, your fridge, heat pump, rainwater pump, air compressor, or air conditioner can easily demand six to eight times its running current at the instant you turn it on.<\/p>\n

For example, a 500w rainwater pump will draw 2.1 amps running your shower, but nearly 17 amps at startup.<\/p>\n

Your mains supply is strong; it will deliver 6000 amps to blow a service fuse in a snap. However, a 5kW lightweight hybrid inverter that only manages 27 amps just isn’t that stiff. It may manage during a blackout, but if there are already a few lights turned on, it will struggle or just shut down.<\/p>\n

\"\"

This 20kW solar, 12.8kWh battery, 10kW hybrid inverter system provides gutsy energy independence, but it still needs a little reinforcement from the grid.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you want an off-grid system to meet this surge load, the rule of thumb says it needs to be about 4 times larger and more expensive<\/strong> than the modest hybrid that will otherwise provide the vast bulk of your energy.<\/p>\n

And the bonus of being grid-connected is you can pick up a few credits for exporting energy and helping your neighbours.<\/p>\n

You Still Want To Treat The Grid With Contempt?<\/h2>\n

There are good reasons that Fronius<\/a>, Enphase<\/a> and Tesla<\/a> don’t support use of their lightweight hybrids for remote areas. They’re simply not designed for it, and Tesla found out the hard way when they tried with Powerwall 2.<\/p>\n

Some brands of high-voltage, high-frequency, transformerless inverters\u00a0claim they’re good<\/a> for off-grid. Some say they’ll auto-start a generator too \u2014 but they can’t run an exercise program, or start under high load, or lockout overnight.<\/p>\n

I think these cheap inverter companies are just adorable in their optimism. As an installer, I wouldn’t risk being the one on the hook for warranty under Australian Consumer Law.<\/p>\n

The clue is in the name for these lightweight grid hybrid<\/em> machines.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, you don’t want a hybrid with 20% extra capacity for surge loads when a proper grid-forming inverter<\/a> offers 140%.<\/p>\n

If you must thumb your nose at the networks, you need hardware that’s designed for the work and a system specified by an experienced operator to meet the loads.<\/p>\n

It could be a large three-phase<\/a> workshop or resort accommodation,<\/a> perhaps using an existing 20a rural supply to help it along, with a generator for even more redundancy. Anything is possible these days, and if the grid is 200,000 dollars distant, it’s often economical too.<\/p>\n

\"aerial

Maximum capacity on a single phase supply was 10kW of solar here. Another 30kW of off grid system with 56kWh of battery augments the supply for the princely sum of $150,000<\/p><\/div>\n

Don’t Go Off-Grid To ‘Stick It To The Man’<\/h2>\n

I have installed “off grid” power in the suburban fringe for people who in their own words “simply don’t trust” the authorities or anyone else. Incidentally, they were the only customers who ever<\/em> changed the WiFi password after I’d set up the system and left the premises.<\/p>\n

The technology to do it properly is not a cheap mass-market product. In this particular case they were committed to a wood stove for home heating and hot water boosting. With the grid isolated, there wasn’t enough solar capacity to avoid buying firewood.<\/p>\n

\"Selectronic

5kW Selectronic SpPro will provide 12kW of surge capacity, so this grid hybrid means business.<\/p><\/div>\n

The reality is that most Australian houses are horribly inefficient and they’ll need a vast solar power system to meet their needs. If you want independence, then improve the house, insulate everywhere, get off gas<\/a>; and use a grid hybrid solar and battery<\/a> to minimise your bill.<\/p>\n

Going off-grid just to\u00a0stick it to the man<\/em> will be expensive and a waste of resources that we would all be better off sharing via the electricity network.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more on the reasons why off-grid is generally not the way to go (and the four exceptions in which it might be a good idea), read our explainer<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every week without fail we see multiple comments, quotes or exasperated exclamations along these lines; “BUGGER THIS; I’M GOING OFF GRID..!” It’s a natural reaction to a nasty power bill and expresses a desire to be independent and free of obligation. But becoming your own power company is expensive, fraught with risk and really doesn’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":91471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-battery-storage","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOff Grid in the 'Burbs? That\u2019s FreeDumb<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dreaming of energy independence\u2014or just thinking in dollars and cents? 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