CASE STUDIES – SOLAR ENERGY OFF GRID POWER SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT YORKSHIRE AND THE NORTH
An example of a Solar Energy Off Grid Power System installation for a large residential family home.
A remote barn conversion Holmfirth.
Living remotely or away from power lines does not mean that you cannot enjoy modern comforts.
This remote barn power system, is capable of producing over 10kv of power, it has auto starting 12Kv Diesel generator. 14kw of solar PV panels, 31kw of BYD batteries.
The system is from Victron Energy, who have been producing off grid power system components since 1975, they are the leaders in remote power systems. The control systems and monitoring are regarded as unrivaled in terms of performance and quality.
A large family home - Holmfirth West Yorkshire
This system was designed to power a barn conversion in Holmfirth. Its a large 4 bedroom property that has all the usual appliances, like washing machine, dryer, dishwasher MVHR, and everything else you would expect in a modern home. Additionally it also has a large barn for the owners small holding interests. The cost of a grid connection quote was over £60,000 even though there are electricity poles just a couple of fields away. The owner wished to live a low carbon lifestyle, so buying an off grid power system that cost around half of a grid connection made complete sense.
The power system is Victron and is located in the plant room along with the other essential household systems. Made up in our workshops on a board, programmed and tested before installation. This allowed us to get the power on within a couple of days.
Specification
45 x 325 watt solar panels =14.6kw peak
2 x Victron Multiplus2 5000 inverter chargers
2x Victron Smart Solar MPPT 250/100 charge controllers
1 x Victron Colour control
2 x BYD LVL 15.4 batteries =30.8kw energy storage
Generator auto start system.
This system delivers a constant 8000watts of power, and is capable of delivering more for a short time. The home owner is upto date with the battery and system information via the app, and can even start the generator remotely via the app.
The local village often has power outages, but this property has enjoyed reliable clean electricity for the last 7 years without a single power outage, thanks to Victron.
ESS - Energy Storage System, Penistone, Nr Sheffield.
Sometimes known as solar energy storage, or home batteries. We use the Victron system, very similar to off grid, to provide grid connected energy storage. The main advantage with Victron is that its totally flexible. With standard ESS systems you are very limited in terms of battery capacity and adding solar. With Victron you can add as much solar as you like, plus add batteries, even generators to make a truly bespoke power system.
A recent installation in Penistone is a good example of that. The customer already had a 4kw solar PV system installed back in 2012. He wanted a large battery storage system, plus if possible more solar, but did not wish to impact his feed in tariff payments.
We obtained G99 approval and then designed and installed an additional 6kw of solar panels, with 31 Kw of BYD batteries. The power system is Victron Energy, using a Multiplus2, 5000 inverter and a 100amp solar charger. The customer controls his system via the Victron app, this displays energy in use, solar energy from his existing and new solar arrays, plus any energy taken from the grid. All complete with charts and historical data. Its even possible to set cheap rate over night charging via the app!
We also installed several critical load circuits, that in the event of a power cut will remain live. Typically other systems shut down when the grid goes off, or at least when the battery is depleted. With Victron the additional solar panels are DC connected and will continue to charge the batteries. Meaning that the critical load circuits are truly off grid and will continue to function so long as the batteries get charged by the solar panels.
The system has significantly reduced the customers imported electricity and energy bills, plus they have the knowledge that the power will stay on when the grid goes down. For the winter they have changed to one of Octupus cheap rate over night charging tariffs.
Toms off grid power system - Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
A newly constructed remote house tucked away in a woodland clearing. Toms vision was to build a super efficient, comfortable, family house for his young family. Both he and his wife appreciate nature and the environment, they wanted to minimize their impact on the land.
A grid connection was, cost wise out of the question. We were involved with the project from the outset, an off grid power system was always on the cards. We assisted Tom in selecting the best kind of appliances, things like a LPG gas cooker and hob, an efficient washing machine that can take hot water (heated from surplus solar energy). A heat pump tumble dryer that uses 40% less energy, and an LPG boiler, they have a wood burner too. Involving us at the start of the project reduces the cost of the power system. Our experience guiding Tom, ensured his energy consumption was lower and so a smaller system could be specified, saving money.
Toms system includes-
20 ground mounted solar panels a capacity of 8.8kw peak
Victron Multiplus2 8000 inverter charger- delivering 6400watts constant
2 x Victron MPPT 70/250 Smart Solar charge controllers
1 BYD LVL 15.4 kw Lithium Ion battery
We pre built the system in our workshop, and tested it before installing it on site. The system includes lightening protection and a bypass switch to connect the generator directly, so they should never be with out power. We had the power on, same day and the whole system installed in about a week.
Tom and his family are enjoying reliable clean, green energy with minimum environmental impact. And like Tom said “who wants to pay for utility bills”.
Small holding, Near Guiseley, West Yorkshire.
A lovely small holding north of Leeds in a very beautiful part of the world.
The clients brief was to provide a reliable off grid power system for his small holding. Previously they lived in a caravan with a pretty poor and undersized power system. The replacement off grid power system was to be reliable, have enough power for the holding, barn and house, and AutoStart the generator when required.
The Client directly purchased a Generator from Target Generators, who provided a 4 cylinder diesel 1500 rpm unit in a silent case. Its very quiet, and on top of the job power wise.
We discussed the clients requirements and gave him advice on appliance choice for the property. Then we set about designing the system, we take account of the available roof space, the orientation, the pitch. This allows us to configure the solar array, in this case we went both sides of a metal roof with an East / West array.
Our go to systems are Victron energy, because they are completely configurable, and can be extended at any time. A point to note here is that Victron systems are built of individual components, unlike the all in one Chinese systems. This means that they can be repaired in the future should this ever be necessary.
A dedicated plant room was available and was perfect for us to install the power board and batteries, plus it puts all his services in a single room.
The system comprises of
East west solar array 20 Jinko Tiger neo all black 440watt =8.8kw peak
Victron Multiplus2 8000 inverter charger
Victron MPPT450/200 solar charger
6 Pylontech us3000c batteries = 21kw storage
Victron VRM remote monitoring
The systems has been up and running for months now, and is providing reliable uninterrupted power for the small holding. This can all be monitored by the Victron App on your phone, tablet or laptop.
Large 15kv power system during commissioning
How does Mr Turners off grid system work?
Day light is converted by the solar panels in to electrical energy. The brighter the light the higher output from the panels, so a sunny day will generate more than a winters day. This high voltage DC energy is reduced in voltage by the Victron Smart Solar MPPT (maximum power point tracker), then stored at 48v in the BYD lithium batteries.
Dwellings use 230v AC power and this is delivered by the Victron Quattro after converting the energy stored in the battery. Charging and delivering power happens simultaneously, its seamless and you wont know your living off the grid.
In winter there may not be enough daylight to charge the batteries, and so a diesel generator is required. In this case Mr Turner already had an old ex army unit, little used and in good working order. We converted it, to auto start so that the Victron system could start the generator when the batteries get low.
Everything works automatically and the client can see system operation direct from his phone app. He can even start the generator remotely. We fitted a changeover switch to the generator so that in the unlikely event of a failure, the generator, at the turn of a switch can power the house directly.
Mr Turner Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.
A large off grid power system.
Mr Turner and his family were building a new farmhouse on their existing Farm. Although it would have been possible to get power lines across the fields, an off grid power system was considerably less expensive. It also fitted in the clients ecological wishes and means that there are no regular electricity bills or standing charges.
The property is a large 4 bedroom house, but also there are a number of livestock sheds, storage barns for hey, straw, feeds, machinery and a maintenance workshop. The power system must be able to supply enough power for the whole farm.
Its a large setup and the buildings are over 100 meters apart, a challenging project. We were allocated a plant room area over a mezzanine floor in one of the sheds. This was restricted in height, but we designed it to fit the space available and made up the power board in our workshop and tested it before installation on site. From here the power was distributed to the other barns via a long and large diameter cable to the farm house.
The property is on the edge of the Pennines, it can be a wild and windy place in winter, so we used extra mounting points to ensure the solar panels can stand up to the worst of the weather. We also installed surge protection on the solar panels to reduce the impact of lightening strikes.
The power systems comprises of-
Victron Quattro inverter charger 15000
2x Victron Smart Solar chargers MPPT 250/100
Victron Cerbo controller with 7 inch touch screen
3 x BYD LVL15.4 batteries, total capacity 46.2 kwh
25 x Jinko Tiger Neo all black 440watt solar panels, total 11kWp
Its a large capacity system, with a big battery bank and an inverter that can deliver a constant 12,000 watts! Mr Turner can also extend the system, there’s talk of adding more solar to help out in the winter.
The system has been up and running for over a year, and has been delivering reliable, clean energy for the farm.
15kv Victron Quattro inverter charger