EV Chargers

The electricity grid in Australia is not sufficiently structured to provide electricity to every nook and corner of the continent. The vast land area combined with the century’s old transmission network can result to be problematic for any customer potentially looking to build a house in the regional area.

The unavailability of existing transmission lines means you as a customer will be bearing the cost of an electricity connection fee inclusive of setting up new transmission structures, which can range anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars to hundred thousand dollars depending on how remote the location is.

So, it’s only logical that you would want to take advantage of the solar energy abundantly found absolutely everywhere. Energy storage systems are also very much available for you to enjoy at a fraction of the cost that you would have to pay for a grid-tied solar system.

Another common issue that our customers face is grid outages. These power disruptions are becoming more frequent due to an increase in storms, floods, bushfires, etc. Power outages can cause major inconveniences to rural customers and, if not remedied immediately, can even result in significant economic and personal loss. There are cases of lingering disruptions even after the regular supply has resumed.

So, a hybrid system or a totally off-grid solar power system can be the answer in this case. Connected battery banks for a system like this would make sure you have access to electricity even on cloudy days.

Although the individual components and configuration may vary depending on the customer’s usage and requirements, the overall layout remains the same as depicted below:

• Solar Modules: The solar modules convert solar energy into usable electricity (DC) by means of photovoltaic conversion.
• PV Inverter: This DC electricity produced is converted to AC by a solar inverter for household usage or to charge the battery bank.
• Charger Inverter: The charger inverter utilises the AC electricity and converts it into DC for storage in batteries for later use. A backup generator can be connected to this charger inverter and can be utilised to power the loads/charge the batteries during overcast days. It is especially very useful for those who live in a remote location.
• Batteries: Lithium-ion batteries are utilised to store the electricity generated from the modules for later use.

In simpler words, an off-grid system is not vastly different from a grid-tied solar system. The difference is you use a clean source of energy that doesn’t harm mother nature when you choose a solar power system, and the opposite is the case for only grid power. If you are hesitant to go completely off-grid, then a hybrid system can always be an option. It keeps you connected to the grid while giving you the option of generating electricity through solar power systems and store them for later use.

Our charger inverters combined with our battery management units act like smart devices that can identify when your solar system is not producing enough energy; hence will supply stored energy from the battery and subsequently, if the batteries are drained, will receive power from the backup generator.

This two-way communication and bidirectional flow will help charge the batteries when the solar system is producing more electricity than what the house requires, allowing you to use the stored energy at night-time or in case of a voltage drop. Also, when a battery is fully charged, the system can figure out to feed electricity back to the grid, allowing you to earn some buck, taking advantage of Feed-in Tariffs (FID). Remember that the capacity of a battery plays a huge role in how much electricity you can store and provide at one go.

There is a phenomenon called Depth of Discharge (DOD), which means that a fully charged battery cannot be totally drained without harming the system. It’s common for many battery types. Usually, lead-acid batteries can draw the maximum out of a battery bank, leaving them almost empty; however, this significantly shortens their lifespan. With many smart systems vastly available nowadays, you don’t have to discharge the battery or plug them back in manually.

Our systems are fully automated and can be monitored either locally or online, providing you a hassle-free operation of the off-grid systems.

Our engineering team designs the power systems to ideally have at least 1.5-2 days of autonomy (number of days a completely charged battery can provide uninterruptible power supply to the house without any need for power generation), resulting in a minimum of 10 kWh battery sizes for our systems.

This can increase your chances of having a sustainable backup system if you live in an area where no backup generator option is present. Our designers also take into account the customer’s usage and geographic location (overcast days) to size the home battery bank accurately with maximum cost savings for the customer without compromising on the days of autonomy.

We carefully choose Lithium-ion batteries with exceptional Depth of Discharge performance in order to maximise the battery’s cycle life resulting in greater peace of mind for our customers.

The modular design and expandability of our battery solutions mean you can always increase the battery systems capacity to up to 256 kWh should your usage increase in the future. This is also an ideal solution if you wish to opt for a lower initial investment.

Currently, new off-grid installations are eligible to generate Small Scale Technology Certificates (STCs) offered by the federal government. Equipment used in upgrades must be approved by the Clean Energy Council. STCs for a system are calculated from an estimate of the energy generation and can be deemed upfront for the entire remaining period of the scheme (ends in 2030). This government rebate can be taken advantage of by small businesses or residents whose solar PV system is equal to or less than 100KW.

This simply means the bigger the solar energy system you install (and the earlier), the bigger the rebate you receive (not more than 100KW, of course). Solar Emporium is an accredited CEC retailer and has a streamlined process for STC creation, taking the fuss right out of your hands.