Do you want to go solar, but you are far from the grid lines and you do not have a budget for the batteries, can you have Off-Grid PV Without Batteries?
In this post, I am going to answer the question and give you my advice if you want to go off-grid without batteries.
Table of Contents
What is off-grid?
When we say a solar panel system is off-grid it means that it is not connected to any other sources of electricity rather than the solar panels themselves.
The main reason people want to go off-grid PV without batteries
For me the main reason to want an off-grid system without batteries is to save some money, solar batteries will contribute between 40% to 50% of your solar installation budget, so removing them will save you a lot of money.
How do the off-grid with batteries work?
This is how the off-grid with batteries works, the solar panels will produce electricity, to be used in your house and at the same time charge the batteries, when there is a cloud or at night you will use the energy that was stored in the batteries, the batteries are designed to support all your needs for the whole night.
Can off-grid solar systems work without batteries?
There is no simple answer to this, for me it depends on what was the intention of installing solar panels, if all you want is electricity only during the day, yes it can work.
But if you want to use electricity for 24 hours and on cloudy days, you can not do it without batteries, you will have to invest in them.
Advantages of installing off-grid PV without batteries
Even though I do not recommend installing an off-grid solar panels system without batteries, there are some advantages to it here are some of them.
The advantages of installing a solar panel system without battery backup include:
- Savings on electricity bills
- Less costly to install
- More environmentally friendly
- Fewer components to maintain
Disadvantages of going off-grid without batteries
For me, as I stated above, a major disadvantage is that it will not provide power during cloudy days or at night. An installation with battery backup includes batteries that allow electricity to be stored for later use.
Conclusion
To summarize all this, yes you can go off-grid without batteries, but you will only use solar energy during the day, you can not use it at night or during cloudy days. If you want to go full off-grid you need those batteries.
You can buy them cheaply from amazon and you will get them the next day.