Generation Solar Renewable Energy Systems

Backup of Critical Services

After an ice storm knocked out power in parts of Ontario and Quebec for weeks Doug S. decided to take action. He wanted to ensure that his critical systems would not freeze up and be damaged should a similar event take place. He already used a woodstove for space heat but his oil fired water heater and electric well pump were of concern. Could Generation Solar provide energy security for these two critical appliances? You bet.

Solar modules, isolated systems

While burning oil for heat, the water heater requires electricity to run the oil pump and exhaust fan. The water heater electrical circuit and the well pump circuit were taken off his main power distribution panel and run from a new source... the sun.

The system consists of 4 roof mounted 100W solar modules (see photo), a Morningstar charge controller, a Trace DR2424 inverter/charger, and 8 golf cart batteries. Energy produced by the solar modules is stored in the batteries until needed, then it is converted to standard household AC power by the inverter to feed the pump and water heater. The loads are completely isolated from the grid and will continue to provide water pressure and hot water no matter what the weather.

Though this appears to be an 'off grid' application, the system is actually grid connected. Should there be an extended period of low sunlight conditions Doug can manually switch the system over to grid power to top up the batteries.

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