Would it be better to tie into the grid, or go with an off-grid solar system? For this customer, the answer was clear as day.
Building your dream home is no small project. There are countless decisions to make and each one comes with a long list of considerations that can swing your choice in one direction or another. When your build site is in a remote area, away from the typical urban infrastructure, things can get even more complicated when you have to figure out what you will do to provide essential utilities for your home. There may not be an established source for things like water, waste disposal, or even power.
So, what do you do when you’ve got limited options when it comes to getting electrical power delivered to the location of your new home? You need to get innovative with the solution you select! This is just what Bryan and Amy (Blondie the Builder on YouTube) did for their dream home build in Nova Scotia. When the time came to decide how to power the home, the first option that was considered was a direct tie-in to the power grid. Once it was determined how many poles and the length of lines required to run the necessary power to the property, the total estimated cost of a grid tie-in was over $55,000. This astronomical price got them thinking there had to be a more economical and effective way to solve the power problem.
Finding the Right Solar Solution & System Provider
After a quick search for alternative energy solutions, it immediately became apparent that the best way to go was with an environmentally friendly solar power system that would enable them to be completely off-the-grid and self-sufficient for the power needs of their home. To help ensure they got the right off-grid solar power system for their home that would consistently provide enough energy now and in the future, the team here at Solar Power Store helped them configure a complete off-grid solar power solution that included everything they needed to say goodbye to electric bills forever.
Once the components were selected and the system was configured to meet their needs, Solar Power Store shipped the complete DIY package of components directly to their build site from our warehouse here in Barrie, Ontario. In just 6 days, Bryan and Amy had the new solar power system up and running to deliver all the sustainable energy the home would ever need, and more than enough battery storage capacity to guarantee an uninterruptible supply of power 24 hours a day, every day.
“Gotta say, we love the system. It works. Don’t need Nova Scotia Power!”
The solar panel array itself was situated approximately 100 feet away from the home on a standalone ground mount frame that provided optimum alignment of the bifacial panels with no obstructions from the surrounding area. The elevated ground mount allowed for maximum absorption of light from both the front and back sides of the bifacial panels, which are capable of also collecting reflected light coming at different angles from the surrounding environment. The energy collected from the solar array is stored in a high-capacity battery system that provides 300Ah total power storage.
“There’s always more power coming in than what we actually need. How great is that?”
Let’s take a closer look at the main components of this powerful off-grid solar energy system!
Main Components Included in this Off-Grid Solar Power System
16x JA Solar 550 watt Bifacial Solar Panels - CSA Approved: The solar panel array consists of a set of 16 solar power panels from JA Solar with a rated production capacity of 550 watts each. These are bifacial solar panels, which means they absorb light energy from both sides of the panel, increasing the production efficiency by capturing reflected light from the surrounding area in addition to direct sunlight. It’s always important to ensure that any electrical equipment installed in Canada meets or exceeds applicable safety standards, so be sure to look for a certification like CSA-approved which these panels have.
Sol-Ark 15k All-in-One Solar Power Inverter: The solar power inverter acts as the control center for the entire system, and this Sol-Ark 15k inverter offers complete functionality and intuitive control over the operation of the solar power solution. Simple touch-screen controls provide at-a-glance performance status of energy production, consumption, and battery capacity. This all-in-one solar inverter can also be used in hybrid and grid-tied solar power installations, allowing you to monitor the amount of energy you are providing back to the grid for easy tracking of where your power is going.
3x Pytes 48100R 100Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4 Batteries: It’s critical to have a top-quality battery system to store the energy produced by your off-grid system so you’ll never be without the power you need for your home. This system utilizes a series of 3 100Ah Pytes lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are incredibly efficient and reliable, and certified to the strictest safety standards for use in interior residential solar power applications.
16-Panel Maple Leaf Adjustable Solar Panel Ground Mount System: While some homeowners prefer to have the solar panels mounted directly to the residence on the roof, others would rather place them at a different location on the property. This is often done to take advantage of superior terrain characteristics or avoid potential obstructions from trees or other objects in the vicinity. The Maple Leaf 16-panel adjustable ground mount system for solar panels provides unmatched flexibility in placement options and angle configurations for optimum alignment and maximum energy production efficiency.
In addition to these core components, the off-grid package provided by Solar Power Store also included all the necessary cables, connectors, wiring hardware, fittings, and mounting parts needed to install and set up the complete solar power system. Ultimately, the solar solution that Blondie received made the entire process easy and simple. Our team helped eliminate the guesswork by streamlining the time-consuming component selection process, and took the pressure off by delivering a comprehensive solar power system that was exactly what the home needed.
“They are super, super helpful. We’ve got to say, after dealing with Solar Power Store, there’s no question that’s too small.”
If you’d like to learn more about what a solar power system can do for your home or cottage, get in touch with us today! Our team of expert solar power professionals will gladly answer any and all of your questions, and help configure the perfect solar energy system for your specific application. There’s never been a better time to make the switch to solar, and we are here to help you every step of the way, from system configuration to permitting and installation, Solar Power Store is your one-stop-shop for everything ‘solar’. Thanks for taking the time to visit us, and we hope you have a sunny day!