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Off Grid Eco stables and holiday let, Staffordshire (Upgrade and maintenance work)

Collin Barrett from ‘The stables at the Oaks’ called Off-Grid Installer to fix and upgrade his current system. It had not been generating enough energy for winter time, spring and late autumn usage. Collin had been running the generator more than he wanted, so was looking for a way to boost his power generation capacity. ‘The Stables’, is actually an Eco Holiday Let and Collin also runs a small pig farm there too. His current system had 12 × 300 watt mono-crystalline solar panels, 10 kWh of BYD lithium iron phosphate batteries, a Victron 5 kW Multiplus inverter, a Victon solar charge regulator and the Victron color control screen.

Colin wanted a micro wind turbine as he believed he had an optimum site for wind turbines. Off-Grid Installer assessed ‘The Stables’ location and recommended against having a micro wind turbine due to there being too many trees and buildings within close proximity. The site would have had too much wind turbulence and shear, which means a 250 W wind turbine would only be generating up to 40 to 70 W when windy.

Off-Grid Installer recommended a second solar array to be added to boost the stables power generation capacity instead. Off-Grid Installer was able to install 2600 W of the very latest split sell solar panels—each panel was 325 W. The array was installed with a Victron 60 amp MPPT solar charge regulator. Off-Grid Installer really did maximize the roof area left available—there appears to be gaps between the panels on the photos, however the panels were located between sky lights.

Off-Grid Installer updated and upgraded all the firmware in the existing Victron products and rewired and replaced the existing DC cables and DC isolators because the last company had incorrectly installed them and were amassing with water from the roof. The additional 2600 W of solar panels would generate 260 W even on a cloudy or rainy day, most times of the year, so this would generate more than a 250 W micro wind turbine. Collin is now very happy and generator free!

Off-Grid Installer repairs and maintains many off-grid solar systems throughout the UK. We are happy to advise and repair any system should you require an off-grid expert.

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