Having a remote farm in Cornwall sounds idyllic, but with a £50,000 fee to connect to the grid, generators used to be the only option for electricity supply until Off Grid / Stand Alone Systems became a more reliable and convenient option.
We’ve installed an Outback FlexPower2 6kw inverter charger system, with two 80Amp Outback charge controllers powered by 24 260W British made SunSolar modules charging 24 x 1000AH 2Volt battery cells.
Cornwall’s micro climate is perfect for Off Grid energy generation most of the year, which means the sun will supply everything needed on the farm ….. until the mist and rain comes in!
The system is programmed to auto start the generator when the batteries get low, or when big loads like the compressor or the water pumps come on.
Our client reckons he’ll have saved enough on diesel fuel for the system to be completely paid in 6 years, as well as the convenience of not running, or servicing a generator. The cows are much happier too!
The batteries should last 10 years, the control gear probably the same, and the solar panels are guaranteed to be producing 80% of their new power within 25 years.
In June this year, we returned to Cornwall to add six more 260w Off Grid Solar Panels a new Outback Mate 3 controller, and a British made Off Grid Leading Edge 600W Wind Turbine . With the ability now to monitor on line with the Mate 3 connected to www.opticsre.com, we were able to tweak the settings to reduce generator usage significantly.
Having just a small amount of wind power, especially at night reduces cycling of the batteries, significantly increasing battery life .