The beauty of generating electricity from sunlight is that it can be done almost anywhere in the world and the energy source – the sun – is virtually inexhaustible. There are many solar power systems existing today, some supplement power received from your local power companies. Others are self-sustaining and allow you to eliminate the need for commercially generated power completely. This type of system is called an off grid solar power system.
Off grid systems are stand-alone, meaning independent of grids – interconnected systems of electricity distribution for wide areas. They provide power for all appliances, lighting and other electrical equipments within a certain establishment, house, cabin, or building.
The obvious advantage of off grid solar power systems is that there are no more electricity bills. Once a system has been installed to a house or any structure that uses electricity, that house or structure becomes independent of power distribution networks. Residents of that house have control over how much electricity they want to use. Also, off grid systems can be used anywhere, even in remote locations like deserts and mountainous areas, which don’t have utility grids. It is great for areas where running a line to local utility grids is very expensive or areas where blackouts are common.
Off Grid Solar Options
Off grid solar power systems are usually sold in packages. A package may cost several thousand dollars to a few tens of thousands. Prices vary depending on the amount of power you need to produce. The power produced can range from less than one kilowatt per day to almost ten kilowatts per day. High-power options are ideal for large houses using many appliances. Also, these high-power options have AC outputs as compared to low-power packages which have DC outputs.
Several pieces of high-tech equipment are included in an off grid package. The most important of these items are the solar panels, which are responsible for capturing and converting the energy from the sun into DC power. The amount of power generated by a package depends on the size, number or type of solar panels as well as the geographical location of the house where the off grid system was installed. Protecting the solar panels and the package, in general, is the photovoltaic (PV) combiner box, which disconnects a circuit in the event an imbalance in electric current occurs.
Off-Grid Solar Equipment
Another important component of an off grid solar system is the battery bank which is responsible for storing the energy collected from the solar panels. Off grid systems must be able to store enough energy to power houses or businesses until the batteries can be recharged–nighttime. The safety of the batteries is the main function of the charge controller. As its name suggests, it controls the amount of electric current flowing from the solar panels into the batteries. This is to prevent the batteries from being overcharged.
The DC power is converted into AC (most appliances use AC power) using an inverter. The DC breaker box regulates the relationship between the inverter and the battery so that the latter can be shut down in case of emergencies. The final piece of an off-grid system is the back-up generator. A back-up generator provides power during bad weather in which collecting energy from the sun is impossible.
