Upgrading your Off-Grid Solar System? Here’s what you need to know

Your Solar energy system may not have been sized to accommodate heavy usage or your energy consumption may have increased. The good news is your off-grid or stand-alone solar system can be upgraded to fully cater to your energy needs.

When can your Off-grid system be upgraded?

1. Increased Energy Consumption: Your household or business energy usage can grow due to the addition of new electrical appliances, or simply an increase in the number of people in your home. This may call for the need to expand your existing solar system to cater to the increase
2. Underperforming System: If this is the case, it’s time to contact your original installer. If your system is still under warranty (most warranties are 20 years) and the issues with the system are legitimate under the warranty, then you should not need to pay for a replacement. You may, however, decide after your system has been fixed that you still want to upgrade, which will then put you in the two below scenarios.
3. The solar system is performing well but you want to increase its size. If your current system’s inverter can add more panels and your roof has the space to cater for additional panels, this will be your best option to increase your generated energy. This will cost less than if you were to upgrade your inverter or install an additional solar system
4. The Solar system is performing well, you have excess energy and want to add battery storage. Adding a battery to your system will allow you to store any excess energy generated from your system, for you to use when your system is not generating energy (when the sun is not out). For a battery to be useful and store excess power your current solar system must be generating more energy than you are consuming daily.

Here’s how your Off-grid system can be upgraded

An Off-grid system can be upgraded by adding panels, inverters, and battery

Adding a battery to your existing Solar System

Adding a battery to an existing grid-tied solar system depends on whether or not your system was designed to do so.

1. Storage-Ready Solar System. Because installing solar is quite expensive, some people usually start small with an intention of expanding the system in the future.
2. DC Coupled System: With a DC Coupled System, your inverter will be replaced by one that works with a battery and a solar system. These are known as hybrid inverters. DC power produced by your solar panels is used to charge the battery. From there, the power is passed through the hybrid inverter, which converts the power into AC electricity. Then, the AC power can be either used in your home or business or go to the grid.

DC Coupling could be a great option for you if you’ve had your solar system for some time and your inverter is approaching the end of its expected life. Most string inverters last fifteen years, so replacing your inverter a little earlier with one that works with a battery could be to your benefit.

1. AC Coupled System: The next option, an AC Coupled System, uses your traditional inverter in addition to a second inverter, or a “storage inverter,” that charges the battery. DC power produced by your panels goes to the inverter and is converted to AC power as it always has. From there, the inverter sends it to your building if you’re using electricity, to your battery if you’re producing more electricity than you’re using, or to the grid if your battery is fully charged. Typically easier to install, AC Coupling offers flexibility in terms of location, works with a variety of inverters, and is likely to be a lower-cost option. However, it is slightly less efficient. Electricity stored on the grid and used in your home is AC, but batteries store DC power. For the battery to provide the power you can use in your home or business, it must then be converted to AC power. This extra step causes more energy to be lost compared to DC Coupling.

Adding Solar Panels to an existing Solar system

It is important to note how many additional solar panels will be required as this affects the system design and the cost of the upgrade. We can assess to be able to determine how many additional panels you will need given your current energy consumption situation

What to consider before adding Solar Panels to your existing system

1. Unshaded space on your roof for rooftop solar or large space on your property for additional panels to be mounted on the ground
2. Solar Panel compatibility. It is important to install the same type as the original array if possible. This ensures everything will match, and has the same power outputs and efficiencies as the rest of the panels. However, if you are unable to install the exact panels, lookout for panels with similar power output to avoid damaging the existing array

Inverter replacement

Depending on how much more new capacity you add to your system, you may need to replace your inverter. When an installer sizes your central inverter, it’s based on the power output of your panels. Because the direct current (DC) electricity being produced by your panels is being converted to alternating current (AC) at the inverter, the power rating of that inverter can be a bit smaller than the panels because of the energy loss that occurs during the conversion process. If you’re adding quite a few panels and your entire solar panel system is much larger than the original size, it may generate more electricity than your pre-existing inverter can handle.

Add-on projects are a bit easier if your original solar panel system uses microinverters as opposed to a power optimizer or string inverter system. Because microinverters are located at each panel, you don’t have to worry about inverter capacity issues and can just install additional microinverters with the new panels.

Looking to expand your Solar Power System, we can assist you to make the right decision for your home or business with the most viable of the available options after a critical and professional assessment of your situation

Ref: Solar Market