Thinking about going off the grid in New Zealand? We had a chat with some off-gridders to hear all about what surprised them most when they moved off grid, and what misconceptions they would like to clear up about the lifestyle! Firewood In the words of one off-grid dweller, "Firewood is like gold.” If you’ve not used a woodburner much before, this is something you’ll learn quickly - whether you're using it to heat your space, cook meals, or warm water, the consumption rate might catch you off guard. Having a sustainable supply on your property is definitely something to look for if you have ..read more

If you’ve started looking into solar, kilowatt hours (kWh) is a term you’ve probably seen – but what does it mean and how do you use this term to find the right solar solution? This article will break it all down for you.  What is a kWh?  Simply, a kilowatt hour (kWh) is a measure of electricity used over time, in hours and thousands of watts. Outside of off-grid solar, you’ll see this measurement on power bills, as you pay per kWh used.   Every appliance will have a wattage rating which tells you how many Watts (W) of power it uses while running – for some it’s very simple ..read more

Occasionally customers will call us wondering why they can’t seem to fully charge their batteries despite having plenty of sunshine – in most cases, there’s a shadow being cast on their panels that they either didn’t see or didn’t realise was having an effect. Can all shadows on solar panels have an effect? It may seem surprising, but any form of shadows can affect your solar output. This means it can be very easy to overlook, and you might think it’s a problem with the gear instead. Even small, partial shadows covering just one cell, or the bottom of the panels, can cause the shadowing effect ..read more

With a much drier season expected this summer, it’s important to be prepared for the lack of rainfall we’ll have over the next several months. Some people are lucky enough to have a stream or spring on the property and are not relying solely on rainwater collection, but these can still dry up over summer, so here are some quick tips for conserving water. A lot of this advice will come naturally to most off-gridders, but if you're right at the start of your journey and still learning, hopefully this will help! Reuse greywater Capturing and reusing your greywater is a great way to maximise your ..read more

Going off the grid and trying to work out what the best appliances will be? By choosing the most efficient appliances you can cut down on your electricity use quite significantly, which will in turn mean you don’t need quite so much solar power to run them, resulting in a lower cost to install solar! Off Grid Fridge/Freezer Options: There are a few different options for fridges in terms of type: traditional AC electric, DC electric, or LPG/3-way. 3-way fridges and DC fridges have traditionally been the most popular with off-gridders, because they’re designed for off-grid use in campervans, eas ..read more

Going off grid and getting back to basics has been growing in popularity here in New Zealand, with tiny homes becoming especially popular as place to live.   They tie in really well with some common goals of moving off grid: saving money, simplifying your life, and self-sufficiency.  If you’ve chosen to go tiny in your off-grid journey, we’ve got a couple tips and suggestions to help with the planning!  Plan for the Architectural Constraints  Tiny homes are typically 35sqm or less – this is usually down to the constraints of fitting them on a trailer and/or trying to c ..read more

Here's simple explanation of what numbers to enter in the Load Calculator. Most appliances will be simple - you just need to find the Wattage Rating, which will be a number that ends with W, usually on the back or bottom of an item, like this toaster:  To enter this in the Load Calculator, simply type in the Appliance name (or choose the most appropriate number in the dropdown), the Quantity of this appliance you will have, the Wattage Rating, and the Hours it will be running, ignoring the remaining columns. We expect to run the toaster for about 10 minutes, so we divide this by 60 to con ..read more

A generator is a key part of any off grid setup. If you run into a set of rainy days with no solar generation or you just use too much power, you'll need something to use as a backup. A Growatt hybrid inverter allows you to continue powering your home while also charging your batteries. There are several main configurations for different ideal use cases. So today we're going to take a look at these and make sure you know how to set up your kit for each of them. Before you set up your generator, you need to make sure that it is compatible and adequately sized. For all our kits, we recommend us ..read more

What is solar pumping?  The essence of solar water pumping is utilising the sun when it’s available to pump water higher than the water source, so that gravity can feed things when the sun isn’t out.   A solar pump is different to an on-demand pump because it is powered directly by the solar panels, rather than drawing from batteries that have been charged by solar panels. In this way, the pump will only work when there is adequate sun, rather than being able to run when you choose.  This means to optimise your system you will need adequate storage. You can imagine your hol ..read more

Batteries are a key component in all our off grid solar kits. They are also your biggest investment, so it is very important to look after them to maximise their lifespan! Batteries degrade with use - whether it’s your phone or car or solar battery, it’s unavoidable. The more times they are charged and discharged, the lower the capacity becomes, and eventually they will have too little capacity to meet your needs, so you will need to replace them. However, the way you use them can have a significant impact on how much life you can get out of them.  This article will cover the causes ..read more