Understanding Solar Energy

I have been off-grid with a small solar generation system of 2.5kwh of solar and 3.6kwh of battery storage for a year.

I had to run a generator a number of times during the darker weeks, but now we have longer days. I don't recall when I last ran it.

With solar, or any off-grid system, the number one thing that needs to change is you.

Switch stuff off, get energy efficient things, use power tools and charge their batteries when the sun is shining, use gas for hot water and cooking, and a log burner for heat (If I had my time again I would use a back boiler for water heating during the winter, and solar for water heating the rest of the time).

When I lived in a typical house, I averaged around 12.5kwh per day. Now, it's around 2.5kwh per day.

> a log burner for heat

for areas that experience winter, this is a decisive issue.

If you live in a passivhause-style home, air source heat pumps ("minisplits" for our US readers) may work, and you might be able (at least in the southwest of the USA, with high insolation during winter) to get away with local battery storage to cover your heating needs with PV.

But if you don't, PV-driven heating during the winter, even with the very high COP's of air source heat pumps, is not realistic without much larger battery systems than you could reasonably have on site.

Covering non-heating domestic electricity costs with PV these days is relatively easy, and we should do it as much as possible. Covering the heating part for places with winter climates (especially in areas with low insolation) is much, much harder and really requires effective grid infrastructure.