Design Buy Build Issue 17 2015 | Page 8

Smart Energy Storage Systems Offer An Alternative To Grid Power www.offgrid-energy.co.uk With subsidies for solar PV installations changing and the cost of installations falling all the time, the concept of capturing all the energy you yield from solar for self-consumption is attractive. This is regardless of whether you’re connected to the grid or not. The future cost of electricity from the grid is something of an unknown and, with delays in decisions being made about the build of new capacity to replace our ageing electricity generation plant, the risk of major power outages increases every winter. Grid quality independent power systems that feature hybrid technology can capture and store energy generated from renewables and interact with either the grid or a conventional diesel generator. This way yield is maximised and you can make sure that every bit of the energy you generate gets consumed by you. For those that live off grid (and even those that do not) integrated power solutions offer power supply comparable to the grid in terms of power quality and reliability. In many cases this is a viable and cost effective alternative to what can be an expensive grid connection that you have to wait a considerable period of time to have installed. micro-hybrid system is optimised. All the energy from your solar PV system will be used to maximum efficiency and, where there is need to run your generator, fuel economy will be maximised, running hours and so fuel costs will then be kept to a minimum and the nuisance of generator noise managed for greatest convenience. Off Grid Energy are a company that work with standard building blocks that, uniquely, have been tried and tested to meet the requirements of G84 (the standard for connecting generation equipment to the grid), solutions can be customised to specif