Reality of Off-Grid Living

Although the thought of detaching ones self from the system and becoming completely self sufficient sounds romantic, there are some tough realities that need to be considered.

For most, the belief that a few solar panels and a battery or 2 will be enough to sustain you off the grid could not be further from the truth.  The reality is that to determine what you need to go off-grid, the following factors will ultimately drive the cost of the system;

• Efficiency opportunities 

• Lifestyle 

• Redundancy

Efficiency Opportunities:

Even though the cost of an installed renewable energy system has reduced drastically, the old truth that the small cost of reducing the amount of electricity you use will save you the bigger cost of producing it, still remains.  By simply looking at your appliances and various electrical loads to see if any are outdated or can be replaced with an EnergyStar equivalent or eliminated would be a good start.  Also, consider having a professional conduct an Energy Audit of your house to help you identify any other areas of improvement, including your HVAC and building envelope, such as insulation and windows, for better efficiency.  Once you have maxed out on your opportunities to make your place more energy efficient, you are need to then consider your lifestyle.

Lifestyle:

By lifestyle, we are referring to your household habits and behaviours. Basically the things you do at home, when and how often you do them.  

Your lifestyle will determine 2 technical factors that need to be considered when sizing an off-grid system. How much power (Watts) you need at any given time and how long (Watt-hours) you need it for.  This sounds a little confusing, so let's use an example to help you understand.

Let's say its a hot and humid overcast day and you decide to roast a turkey and dry some laundry at the same time while the AC is running.  Assuming these are electrical, they would be big users of power, drawing a lot of Watts all at once and will need to sustain that output for quite some time.  Therefore, the system will need to be designed to accommodate this, which adds considerable cost.  The truth is, you probably don't often roast turkeys and doing so at the same time as laundry even less, therefore why pay for a system that would allow you to do so on the very rarest of occasions.  A simple way to avoid this cost is to stager these activities.  Or avoid electricity usage by BBQing or line drying your clothes.

Basically, you need to consider your lifestyle and habits when designing an off-grid system.  If you are not willing to alter your behavior and how you use your power, then you'll need a much more expensive system.  More solar panels, more powerful inverters and more batteries.  But the more you adjust your and your families habits the more you can save.  

These behaviors can be a simple as turning off lights and equipment when not using them.  Closing curtains and blinds to keep keep heat in and out.  Not running heavy loads simultaneously.  But they can also be more drastic, like not using the oven inside on hot days or only running certain appliances at certain times of the day, and never at the same time. Or letting the house be a little warmer or cooler than you'd normally like it.  Taking shorter, colder showers, just to name a few.

Lastly we need to consider redundancy. To learn more about preparing yourself for this type of lifestyle, check out this article.

Redundancy:

Redundancy refers to the amount of 'emergency backup' you want.  Given that skies are not always sunny and rainy or snowy weather can last days, you need to determine how much energy you want the batteries to hold for those situations.  If you want to live seamlessly regardless of if the sun is shining or not, then you're going to need to pay a lot more for the system.  Again, if you adjust your behavior for these occasions, you can save on cost.  You can even base your behavior on the forecast.  Using less power during the longer bad weather durations.  A good professional will be able to help you use this information to develop a plan and do the calculations you need.

It would be wise though to ensure you have some non-electrical backups for extended cold weather, like a wood stove. 

At the end of the day, you are looking to optimize these 3 factors against the cost of the system to ensure that you are able to live comfortably off-grid.  If the compromises are too high, then you'll likely want to remain connected to the grid with a Net Metering system until the costs and technology are better able to meet your needs.

For more information about Net Metering options in your area, fill out the inquiry form here and we'll be in touch shortly.