Keep in mind, heating and cooking are best done on alternative energy sources such as gas or wood-burning, not solar, as they have very high power usage. You can do this manually or you can use an online load calculator. Learn more about that process here.Ĭalculate your usage - How much power am I using?īefore choosing your solar components, you will have to estimate your expected power usage. If you want to use any of our kits, you only need to do the first calculation for usage, which you can then use to determine which kit will suit your needs. This article will walk you through the more complex calculations needed to build a system yourself, showing how we designed our kits. The exact components will vary depending on how much power you need to generate and use for the lifestyle you will have, so your first step is working this out. When you go off-grid, you take on the role of the power company, generating and supplying the power to yourself. A fully functional off-grid solar system comes with four essential components: solar panels, batteries, an off grid charge controller and an inverter. Off grid living means you have no connection to the electric utility’s distribution network.

Learn the very basics first with our Solar 101 article. Thinking of going off the grid with solar energy? We’ve created this complete off grid solar basics guide to help you!

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