Solar Installation

A step towards energy independence for you

The sun and the wind are  — just there! And it will be for a while yet.  The Sun provides a constant and reliable source for power generation, our global weather systems provide wind. These sources require no maintenance compared to the grid supply infrastructure.  Enough sunlight falls on the earth to provide enough energy for the whole population, actually for 2,500 earths with the same populations. You can harness more of this free source for your benefit.

Recent technology advances have enabled distributed and local power generation systems to be installed at an acceptable price. Various storage options  under development (Tesla batteries) will further enhance the acceptance of local power generation with the ultimate option that future housing may become fully self-sufficient.

Understand why bigger is not always better.  Our aim is to maximise your benefits at minimum cost. In many cases this will mean to start small and grow as needs or technology develops with no loss of equipment investment (i.e. using PV panels with micro inverters).

PicoGrid provides renewable energy monitoring and control. Save power by knowing how you’re using it, monitor power from rooftop Solar PV to offset your bills and apply advanced logic to load switching that fits your home or business needs. A PicoGrid ZX implementation supports 5kW to 100kW of solar PV. The Zero Export feature will regulate the output of the inverters to match or stay below the building’s instantaneous load.

Sample of Energy Monitoring over different periods for Solar Panels on a school roof

Micro-Inverters

If you aren’t ready to purchase batteries, starting with a small system using micro-inverters on each panel allows you to expand your system as you see fit. A micro-invertor is a device used in photovoltaics (PVs) that converts direct current (DC) generated by a single solar module to alternating current (AC) and they are attached to each of your panels. This is why they are advantageous over the string inverters, albeit more expensive, and can produce in some situations up to or over 10% more energy.  String Inverters are larger units usually installed inside the house, where 8 – 20+ Modules are connected in a series in a number of strings.  If one Module gets dirty, shaded, or fails (rare) the rest of the modules will stop or reduce production. This is not the case with mircro-inverters.