Case Study: Mr E (Off-grid system to supply gate, CCTV's & intercom system)

Mr E, needed a solution to operate his electric gate, intercom system & CCTV at the entrance to his house (about 100mtrs away from the property) and with no grid supply nearby. The intercom, CCTV & gate control circuit systems needed a base load of 50w (24hrs a day) and 400w to operate the motor gate as and when required.

When designing an off-grid system, worst-case scenarios need to be factored in (i.e. a winter day with the least amount of "sun hours"). With this in mind, a PV array (amount of solar panels) is required to be oversized to be able to generate enough electricity to operate the base load and the battery capacity has to be calculated to be able to store enough energy to cope with "dark periods". We also designed the battery to be easily interchangeable.

Basically, the UK's position on the Planet means we need a large array to keep off-grid systems powered in the darkest, deepest days of winter.

4x Trina 400W Solar panels = 1.8KWp

1x 2000w inverter with a 2KWh battery storage