Calculate the cost of an off-grid system in four steps Instead, you need to create your own personal “grid”, installing on-site battery storage to store the output from your solar panels for use at a later point in time. In an off-grid solar energy system, you don’t have access to the larger electric grid when you need it, either at night when your solar panels aren’t producing, or in the event of a prolonged period of cloudy weather. At the end of the month or year, you’re billed by your electric utility on the net of production from your solar panels and the electricity you used from the grid, hence the term net-metering. In these cases, a policy called net metering allows you to put the electricity produced by your solar panels back onto the electric grid when you aren’t using it, and to then pull from the grid when your solar panels aren’t producing, at night or when the weather is less than ideal. Most solar energy systems are not designed to consistently generate enough electricity to be a home’s only power source, which is why the vast majority of solar homeowners maintain a connection with their utility company. Importantly, installing solar panels on your roof does not mean that you’ve gone off the grid. This means that to go off-grid, you’ll need to meet all of your household needs with electricity produced on-site. Taking your home off-grid from an electricity perspective means completely removing any connection to the larger electric grid, which powers the large majority of homes, buildings and businesses throughout the country. But what does it really mean to go “off-grid”? For such a simple concept, the logistics of going off-grid are in fact rather complicated and very costly. Given the rising cost of electricity throughout the country, it’s hard to not at least consider cutting the cord every time a utility bill comes through the mail.
The notion of living off-the-grid is becoming increasingly popular. Find out what solar + storage costs in your area in 2022 Part 2 discusses two real-world examples of sizing an off-grid solar energy system, along with the feasibility of going through with an off-grid solution.
Reddit grid how to#
Part 1 focuses on what it actually means to go “off-grid” and how to start thinking about calculating the costs for cutting the cord with your utility.
Reddit grid series#
This is Part 1 of a two-part series that explores the economics of going completely off-grid with solar.
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