Off-Grid Living Guide

Understanding the components that go into off-grid/self-sustaining living-

Power-

Generator for backup/supplemental power

-Natural gas/propane, diesel, or gas

-Manual or automatic

-Get the size that fits your needs (runs what you want/need or run your whole home)

-Regular maintenance (minimal maintenance, at least, so as to not ruin your generator)

Main power generation

- solar and/or wind power

-Solar and Gardens can work well together

-Solar & Wind is recommended, but All Solar or All Wind is doable.

-The best source of clean energy for homeowners currently

-A great way to be self-sustaining with power and off the grid

-Green/Clean energy is advancing quickly with high demand

Redundancy, information/tracking power, and automation

-Power tracking and management

-Useful info and data

-Automate as much as you want/can

Inverter(s), solar/wind controller, and storage (batteries)

-Heart of the power system

-Go for what you need and/or plan for future expansion (We are here to help)

-Controller connects the solar panels/wind turbines to the batteries

-Inverter converters the battery power to standard house power (DC to AC)

--Most inverters now have a charging feature built-in (AC to DC)

High efficiency, transfer to more things electric (example: car, power tools, led lights)

-With your own power system and as you transfer to more things being electric - higher efficiency and power management is essential

Water-

Well
Water storage (cistern to relieve stress off of well pump)
Portable water on site (example: truck or 4-wheeler with water tank and pump)
Filtration or access to drinking water

Sewer-

Septic system (holding tank with drain field)
Minimize/efficient water usage

Shelter-

Small dwelling/tiny home, mobile tiny home, regular home, custom home, etc.
Mechanical room (power, water, sewer, Management, etc.)

Food & Other-

Garden, compost, repair & reuse, and food storage
Local farms & ranchers
Local community and businesses
Property/home management and development

Convert your current home to be more self-reliant/self-sustaining
Be self-reliant/self-sustaining on your own property
Design your new home with self-sustaining in mind, from-
-Solar and/or wind power (with backup generator)
-Well with water storage (Cistern)
-Septic System, compost area, and garden
-Efficient and effective design

Understanding Power with Off-Grid Living-

The cost of going off-grid with power is similar to the cost of pulling city power, and no monthly bill, while having more flexibility. The main power generation going off-grid is solar, wind, and generators.

Generators range from mobile plug-and-play ones to built-in automatic ones. While wind and solar need some more forethought before getting started. The main components of solar/wind are a controller, Inverter, battery charger/controller, batteries, solar panels and/or wind turbine(s), and wires/nuts/bolts. Higher-end inverters have solar/wind and battery controllers, and a battery charger built into the inverter, simplifying things greatly. Along with inverters having more things built into them, you can also set up multiple in series or parallel to meet higher power needs/future expansion. Gives you more usable wattage (parallel) or higher voltage (series) just like batteries but on the AC side of things. Even with a 240V inverter, you can get regular house 120V AC with an autotransformer. Some inverters do split phase power output meaning they can do 120V and 240V AC, simplifying things even more.

To choose what you will need you’ll need to get an estimate of how much power you will need/use. A starting point is- Small RVs (30 Amps) need around 2,400W-3,600W inverter, 600W-1,200W of solar/wind, 60Amp or more solar/wind controller, and around 2KWh-4KWh of battery storage. Bigger RVs, Small Dwellings, Pump Houses (50Amp 120V and 240V (split-phase))- around 6,000W inverter (1@ 6,000W or 2@ 3,000W), around 2,000W of solar/wind, and 6KWh-10KWh of battery storage. There are also 12V, 24V, or 48V DC systems. Higher voltage means fewer amps for the same wattage (watts = amps X volts), making it more efficient. As a general guide the bigger your energy demand the higher voltage you go, an example is a 30 Amp system at 24V but could do 48V, and a 50 Amp system at 24V or 48V preferably. With 12V being phased out and mainly used for small systems. Bigger homes, shops, and industry/commercial could need around 30KWh (100Amp - 200Amp system) of battery storage, 2 - 6,000W inverters in parallel, and 5,000W+ of solar/wind. Even for a full house/shop, the cost of full solar is around the same cost as pulling city power (general estimate of $20,000 for each).

Retrofitting homes already connected to the power grid is a hot topic too and becoming increasingly popular. Allowing people to become power independent, you won’t even know when there is a power outage, and any extra power generated can be fed back into the city power grid. Recouping costs over time as you are paid for the power you generate and give to the city grid, though it’s not much over time it adds up.

From creating your own power grid, not worrying about power outages, being power independent, and becoming a key component in the future of a green power grid.