Off-grid Solar Power

An off-grid photovoltaic system supplies electricity to a property that is not connected to the public electricity network. It is often referred to as a ‘stand-alone power system’ and functions as an independent power station. The four main components of an off-grid system are a solar array, a battery bank, an inverter-charger and a generator. Off-grid systems are currently designed using a string inverter. It is anticipated that the release of the Enphase IQ8 and Enphase battery will provide additional options for off-grid systems.

The heart of every battery system is an inverter-charger. The inverter-charger diverts power from the inverter directly to the house or batteries as required and converts stored DC energy in the batteries to AC electricity for use at night. It will stop the solar PV system from recharging the batteries once they are full. The solar array (panels) should be located as close as practical to the battery bank and inverter / charger. When the sun is not shining on the solar array and producing electricity, the battery bank will send power to household appliances. If the battery bank state-of-charge level gets too low, the inverter/charger will turn on the fuel generator automatically to power the house electrical appliances and recharge the battery bank.