Tiny House Off Grid
By SUNZ Solar Energy Specialists
The builder of this tiny home purchased an off grid power system from the internet and got his electrician to install it. It was a disaster. The owner, continually came home to no power and even had water dripping from the light fittings due to the faulty solar panel installation. As the builder was a initially a bit reluctant to start over with a complete new system, we were first able to get the owner reliable power by replacing the inverter/charger and installing an auto start generator.
Once the system had stable power, using the system monitoring, over a 6 month period we were able to identify battery issues and under performing solar panels. One of the installation issues was actually a serious safety issue involving the location of the battery's in a habitable space. We were able to work with the local electrical inspector to come up with a safe solution given the constrained space of the tiny home. Once both batteries and solar panels were replaced with fit for purpose equipment installed correctly, the system has operated faultlessly for 5 years.
One of the keys to the success of this small system replacement is its ease of use. This is very important for off grid living as the owner effectively becomes the power company. The owner, a single lady approaching retirement, was easily able to monitor, understand and operate the system with very little guidance required from us.
The tiny house has since been sold and is now operating as a Bed and Breakfast on the shores of Kawhia Harbour. Just before it was sold, we upgraded the battery system from the old lead acid batteries which had a 5 year life span to the more modern lithium Iron Phosphate batteries which have a 15 to 20 year life span.
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Tiny House Off Grid
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About the
Professional
Sunz Solar Energy Specialists was formed in 2000 to offer clients energy-efficient renewable energy solutions. Energy costs are rising and have been doing so for many years. The hydro lakes always seem to be in some state of emptiness, there’s no new oil and gas exploration allowed, and New Zealand imports coal from Australia just to keep our lights on.
In the early days, solar water heating was the only real financially viable renewable technology so most of Sunz systems we built around highly efficient solar water heating products from Europe and the USA. Technical improvements and cost reductions in solar power and battery products over the last 10 years have these systems now not only financially viable for most New Zealand households and business, but actually the preferred option.
Energy costs are rising and have been doing so for many years. The hydro lakes always seem to be in some state of emptiness, there’s no new oil and gas exploration allowed, and New Zealand imports coal from Australia just to keep our lights on.
Sunz expertise is in offering energy-efficient solutions tailored to the clients’ requirements. We assess what the client wants to achieve and provide an integrated solution to meet that requirement, often combining multiple energy sources and technologies in our systems. While our systems are primarily renewable energy-based, we can integrate with almost any other energy source, grid power, gas, diesel, heat pump, wood, or waste process heat.
So whether it's providing electricity to power your home or business, or heating your home, your domestic hot water, swimming pool, or spa, we can offer a solution for you.
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