Grid Independence in Central Victoria

This client had an existing grid-connected house on a farm property that he wanted to take ‘off-grid’ as much as possible. Energy independence was a big driver for him, as well as blackout protection because outages are common in the area. The client expressed a preference for lithium-ion batteries and premium-quality solar panels.

He was building a new shed 60m away from the house, which would house the battery system, and wanted the solar panels on ground-mounted frames to maximise solar output. The electricity distributor placed a limitation of 5kW/phase export to the grid, and because the system design was larger than this it needed to be export-limited.

• Selectronic SP Pro Inverter/Charger (7.5kW)
• Powerplus LiFe Premium Lithium-ion Batteries (19.8kWh)
• Battery Cabinet
• LG Solar Panels (14.74kW)
• Fronius Primo 6kW Solar Inverters
• Ground mounted solar frames
• Select.Live remote monitoring system
• SPMC Grid Fail / Gen Backup

Project Outcome:

Including the Grid Fail kit allows the client to switch from grid power to generator power as needed, allowing him to use a generator to charge the batteries if the grid goes down. By using self-managed batteries and smart system design, the client has been able to expand his system twice since the original installation.

• 2020: 2x extra batteries + 4x extra solar panels
• 2021: 4x extra batteries + battery cabinet