If you’re intending to run your entire home off grid then the first step is to see where you can eliminate electricity use. So cooking on wood, or gas; heating water with a pellet / log boiler, range cooker, and/or solar thermal, with excess solar energy in summer being used to power an immersion heater.

You’re likely to have a fridge, freezer, washing machine, toaster and maybe an electric kettle and microwave in summer. Induction hobs are also good for sunny weather. From November – March though, we need to minimise power use unless we want to rely on backup from a generator, wind power or hydro.

We find that people frequently underestimate how much power they will need, and overestimate how much good weather they will have, so the key when designing a system is to be realistic. 

With a bigger system – and especially with LiFePo batteries, a Cerbo GX or Color Control GX unit is essential to manage everything properly. It enables the system to be properly configured, to control other devices – such as a generator on/off, and allows you to view and manage an internet connected unit from anywhere in the world.