‘Grid Defection’ –
Disconnecting from the electricity grid

Objectives & Site Considerations

This retired client owned an energy-efficient suburban house south of Adelaide and wanted to make their home standalone for power to give them independence from electricity retailers and energy policy. The system would need to accommodate future EV charging, and they would be removing their gas heater but keeping gas for cooking and hot water. An existing 6.5kVA generator could be used as a backup, and the client wanted to investigate incorporating their existing 1.9kW solar system into the new system design.

Load Analysis

Average summer demand: 18.31kWh
Average winter demand: 17.39kWh
Demand surge: 6.34kVA

System Design

• Selectronic 7.5kW Inverter Charger
• BYD Premium LVS batteries (24kWh)
• Trina Solar Panels (7.92) + existing 1.9kW solar
• Fronius Primo 8.2 solar inverter
• Select.Live remote system monitoring
• Roof-mounted solar framing

Project Outcome

Once the system was installed, the client went through the process of disconnecting from the grid with their retailer (at the time) AGL. The simplest and cheapest method involved closure of their AGL account and disconnection by removing the fuse (referred to by AGL as a “Move out Request”) – rather than permanent meter abolishment.

The client was looking into buying their EV in late 2022 and contacted us in mid-2023 with some questions about running their backup generator – which hadn’t been needed for two years.

Customer Feedback

“I just wanted to give you a brief update [3 years after installation] and congratulate you again on the design of our off grid system. We installed a ceramic top cooker some time ago and the EV arrived in August. As suggested we use a quality type 1 charger plugged in to the protected power outlet provided with the installation. We average around 1000k a month so far and no imported oil or electricity! I have calculated that the money we are saving, we may be able to earn in a term deposit if we had invested the same amount now that we have spent all up in a 12 month term deposit, then paid tax on it. But that ignores the saving in CO2 we are now making, almost 2t for the house and nearly 6t for the old V6 car over a year, and ignores future prices and shocks. We are also closer to nature, the weather matters, and of course we have total control over our loads, and on top of that there are fewer corporations in our lives with their hands in our pockets. We are very, very pleased. All the best”