Off-Grid Solar Design Guides
Step-by-step explanations of the engineering behind a reliable off-grid power system: how much battery you need, how to read solar resource data, how to choose an inverter and charge controller, and how to size cables safely. Every guide includes worked examples you can check by hand.
How to Size an Off-Grid Battery Bank (Step by Step)
Work out how many amp-hours and kilowatt-hours of battery storage your off-grid system needs, using a daily load audit, days of autonomy, depth of discharge, and temperature corrections.
8 min readPeak Sun Hours Explained: Sizing a Solar Array for Your Location
What peak sun hours really measure, where to find reliable solar data for your location, which month to design for, and how system losses turn panel ratings into real-world energy.
8 min readLiFePO4 vs AGM Batteries for Off-Grid Solar: An Honest Comparison
A practical comparison of lithium iron phosphate and AGM lead-acid batteries: usable capacity, cycle life, efficiency, cold-weather behaviour, safety, and true cost per kilowatt-hour.
8 min readInverter Sizing for Off-Grid Solar: Continuous Power, Surge, and Idle Draw
How to choose an off-grid inverter: calculating simultaneous load, handling motor start-up surges, pure sine vs modified sine, idle consumption, and the DC current your batteries must supply.
8 min readMPPT Charge Controller Sizing: Current, Voltage Limits, and Cold-Weather Voc
How to size an MPPT solar charge controller: output current, maximum PV input voltage with cold-temperature correction, series vs parallel strings, and when PWM is still acceptable.
9 min readWire Sizing for Off-Grid Solar: Voltage Drop, Ampacity, and Fusing
How to choose cable sizes for an off-grid solar system: the voltage-drop formula, why ampacity sets a minimum size, worked examples in mm² and AWG, and where fuses must go.
Suggested reading order
If you are planning a system from scratch, read the guides in this order: start with the battery bank guide (it explains the daily energy audit everything else depends on), then peak sun hours to size the array, followed by the charge controller, inverter, and wiring guides. The LiFePO4 vs AGM comparison helps you choose the battery chemistry along the way.