If a grid-tied battery runs low on a cloudy stretch, the grid quietly picks up the difference at a cost, but with no risk of losing power. An off-grid system has nothing behind it, so undersizing isn't a minor inconvenience — it's a genuine loss of power. That's why the sizing conversation is a lot more conservative once there's no grid in the picture. Here's where off-grid actually fits.
Staying Connected
Grid-tied solar
Lower upfront cost and still fully backed by the grid, but you're still receiving a bill and still exposed to network outages and rising tariffs.
Solar plus battery, grid-tied
Most households land here. Grid draw drops close to zero most days, but the connection stays in place as backup for the rare day it's genuinely needed.
Full Independence
Fully off-grid
Right for a property the grid never reached, or an owner who wants complete independence. Battery and backup generation are sized with no fallback assumed — higher upfront cost, genuine independence from there.
There's no grid behind an off-grid system, so we're more conservative at every stage than on any other service we offer.
We don't quote an off-grid system from satellite imagery or a phone call. Someone visits the property and assesses shading, roof structure and actual usage in person.
Your system is sized against the worst realistic run of low-generation days your property is likely to see, with backup generation designed in as standard, not an optional extra.
Battery, panels and backup generation are installed and commissioned together, and tested as a complete system before we consider the job done.
There's no grid behind an off-grid system, so we're more conservative here than anywhere else.
We model your property against its worst realistic run of low-sun days, because an off-grid system doesn't get a second chance to catch up from the grid.
A backup generator is built into the design as standard, so an unusually long stretch of bad weather still has a fallback that isn't the grid.
Given what's riding on getting this right, someone visits the property and assesses it properly before any number gets put forward.
Two kinds of properties tend to end up here. The first is genuinely remote, far enough from existing infrastructure that a grid connection was never run and the cost to extend one would be significant. The second is a property that could connect to the grid but the owner would rather not, often for cost, reliability or independence reasons. If your address already has grid access and your main goal is a lower bill rather than full independence, a grid-tied battery setup is usually the more cost-effective path, and we'll say so if that's what the numbers show.
A grid-tied battery that runs low on a cloudy stretch simply draws a bit more from the grid until the sun returns, at a cost but with no risk of losing power. An off-grid system has nothing behind it, so undersizing isn't a minor inconvenience, it's a genuine loss of power. We deliberately size against your property's worst realistic run of low-generation days rather than an average week, which means the system carries more capacity than a grid-tied equivalent of similar daily usage.
Every off-grid system we install includes backup generation, sized to cover an unusually long low-sun stretch beyond what the battery alone is built for. This isn't an upsell. It's part of how we make sure a worse-than-expected week doesn't leave a property without power at all.
Off-grid sizing depends on details that don't show up on a satellite image or a phone call: shading through different seasons, roof structure, existing electrical setup, and how the property is actually used day to day. Because there's no grid to quietly absorb a sizing mistake, we send someone to assess the property properly before recommending a system, rather than working from assumptions the way a lower-stakes grid-tied quote sometimes can.
If you're not sure whether your property genuinely needs off-grid or would be better served by a grid-tied solar and battery combination, that's exactly what the free site assessment is for. Get in touch through our contact page and we'll give you a straight answer either way.
Step 1 is a free, no-obligation energy audit. We review your actual bills and tell you exactly what’s possible — including if solar won't deliver the return you need. We'll contact you within 1 business day.
Book Your Free Energy Audit