Off Grid, Big House — No Worries

How do you power your beautiful new home when it is built 20 minutes away from the closest town and your electricity provider quotes an astronomical figure to connect you? The answer, many Australians are finding, is: hybrid systems off grid. In this case, solar plus battery plus diesel backup.

Due to the rural location at Woodbury, the family was quoted over $100,000 to connect the home to grid power, and monthly power bills were estimated to be high due to the size and energy consumption of the four-bedroom family home. Springers was able to provide an off-grid system for less than the cost to connect to the grid. On top of that, there would be no ongoing power bills. It was an easy decision to make.

36 x 370W SolarEdge Smart Panels were installed on the Northern and Western-facing rooftops to optimise solar yield. The array layout was designed for maximum efficiency while not compromising the new home’s aesthetic, so no panels were placed on the front-facing rooftop. A 10kW SolarEdge Genesis solar inverter with an online portal was selected. This gives Springers and the customer the ability to monitor the system and ensure the power is running for the household at all times.

Luke Springers tells me: “The SolarEdge Genesis inverter is also designed for connection to solar storage, creating a harmonic off-grid system when coupled with the two Tesla Powerwalls and Tesla Gateway installed at the property’s rear. With leading energy storage technology that permits solar self-consumption, time-based control, and backup, the Tesla Powerwall provides a reliable and user-friendly solution for 24/7 power.”

The two Powerwalls can store up to 27 kWh of solar energy, which would give the home two days of backup power before the auto-start diesel supplied by Kubota kicks in. The Springers in-house team of electrical engineers has designed the system capacity to ensure the property can power heavy loads such as air conditioning and hot water all year long. All selected components have comprehensive and lengthy warranty protection.

The Woodbury off-grid home is estimated to produce 20.86 MWh of energy annually, which means this property is set to prevent approximately 16.69 tonnes of CO2 emissions from being released every year. That’s the equivalent of planting 767 trees! This home saves money and mitigates against climate change without compromising lifestyle. That’s a win-win.