On Grid Vs Off Grid Solar Power - Independence Is Not Everything!
Recently, I talked to some friends of mine and we had a nice conversation about the climbing costs for energy bills.
Everybody keeps rambling on this topic and even when the resources don't get more expensive, the local energy prices usually rise.
Most likely, it's just all a big business but what could you do to free yourself from the ever-changing costs? There is really just one answer: You need to power your home independently, or you will always be bound to the local prices.
When I heard of off grid or off the grid solar systems the first time, it sounded too good to be true.
Produce your electricity for free (except for the installation costs) and even do something for your environment? Wow, quite an argument you might guess.
And it is, but it comes with some limitations.
But let's first have a look on how such an off-grid system works.
The heart of every solar-energy installation are the solar panels which absorb the sunlight and generate electricity.
The next crucial part is a battery bank, which will store electricity if your construction produces excess voltage.
Obviously, you will use this at times when the sun does not deliver enough energy.
The generated power will be DC why you need an inverter to convert it to alternating current to supply your appliances.
Well, those are the basic parts of every independent photovoltaic system but now for the limitations.
Unless you live at a location with a very high solar irradiation, and you use exceptionally little electricity, you won't be able to produce all of your demand with solar power alone.
Even in areas with very many sun hours a day you can't generate enough electricity in wintertime or on rainy days.
So you will need some backup device to do the sun's job on those days.
So does that mean that Off Grid Systems aren't efficient? By all means, no! However, it's perfectly possible that an on-grid or grid tied system may be more efficient for your home.
The big difference is that an on grid setup is, as the name says, still connected to the grid.
Although this approach sacrifices the independence, it is in most cases more efficient.
First of all, you won't need a battery bank to store excess electricity.
This reduces the installationirst, but even more you are still able to "store" energy.
It's as simple as it gets.
You easily feed the generated electricity to the grid and get it back for free when you need it.
If you only install solar panels because of economic reasons, you can even feed all your generated solar electricity to the grid.
In some countries, you can sell your green energy for way higher prices than you need to pay for electricity from the grid.
Because of government programs that support renewable energies you can save even more with this trick.
Everybody keeps rambling on this topic and even when the resources don't get more expensive, the local energy prices usually rise.
Most likely, it's just all a big business but what could you do to free yourself from the ever-changing costs? There is really just one answer: You need to power your home independently, or you will always be bound to the local prices.
When I heard of off grid or off the grid solar systems the first time, it sounded too good to be true.
Produce your electricity for free (except for the installation costs) and even do something for your environment? Wow, quite an argument you might guess.
And it is, but it comes with some limitations.
But let's first have a look on how such an off-grid system works.
The heart of every solar-energy installation are the solar panels which absorb the sunlight and generate electricity.
The next crucial part is a battery bank, which will store electricity if your construction produces excess voltage.
Obviously, you will use this at times when the sun does not deliver enough energy.
The generated power will be DC why you need an inverter to convert it to alternating current to supply your appliances.
Well, those are the basic parts of every independent photovoltaic system but now for the limitations.
Unless you live at a location with a very high solar irradiation, and you use exceptionally little electricity, you won't be able to produce all of your demand with solar power alone.
Even in areas with very many sun hours a day you can't generate enough electricity in wintertime or on rainy days.
So you will need some backup device to do the sun's job on those days.
So does that mean that Off Grid Systems aren't efficient? By all means, no! However, it's perfectly possible that an on-grid or grid tied system may be more efficient for your home.
The big difference is that an on grid setup is, as the name says, still connected to the grid.
Although this approach sacrifices the independence, it is in most cases more efficient.
First of all, you won't need a battery bank to store excess electricity.
This reduces the installationirst, but even more you are still able to "store" energy.
It's as simple as it gets.
You easily feed the generated electricity to the grid and get it back for free when you need it.
If you only install solar panels because of economic reasons, you can even feed all your generated solar electricity to the grid.
In some countries, you can sell your green energy for way higher prices than you need to pay for electricity from the grid.
Because of government programs that support renewable energies you can save even more with this trick.