The storage system, installed by Off-Grid Energy, comprises six of the Brisbane battery maker’s 10kWh zinc-bromine flow batteries (pictured below), and a nearly 19kW (72 panel) solar PV array, that is installed on the roof of a nearby shed.
The owners of the home, Scott and Breeann Bates, said they went with the Redflow battery system to guarantee grid-independence, uninterrupted power and no power bills.
But their decision to go off-grid was also a practical one: the new house sits about 2.7km from the nearest mains power connection, on a cattle and grain property near Wallumbilla, a regional town about five hours west of Brisbane.
“We were initially interested in solar because running mains power the required distance to our site was going to be an expensive exercise,” said Breeann.
“Costwise, the difference between running mains power to the new house site and setting up the solar-powered energy storage system was negligible,” she said.
“The added benefits of uninterrupted power and no power bills made the decision easy.”
The family also designed their new home based on the decision to live off-grid, making sure the 400-square metre single-storey four-bedroom structure was well insulated in the floor, walls and ceiling.
Breann said that, so far, the solar and storage system had not disappointed.
“We are really impressed with it. Scott wanted to be able to do everything on batteries that we could do on mains power and not compromise our way of living.
“It’s cold in the morning, so we’re running the heaters to keep our three kids warm, and we keep them on until the day warms up.
“Our variable climate means we can have the air conditioning cooling the house one day and then heating it the next,” she added.
“Even through these challenging conditions, the system has managed to seamlessly fulfil our power needs.”
According to Redflow global sales director, Andrew Kempster, the company is getting “a significant number of orders” for ZCells for customers whose homes were off-grid, not least off all due to their chemistry being well-suited to Australia’s harsh summers.
One of the ASX-listed company’s key selling points has been the batteries’ tolerance of ambient temperatures as hot as 50°C, as well as sustained energy storage of 10 kilowatt-hours (kWh) throughout their operating life.
“(These families) recognise the benefits of ZCells including their tolerance of hot climates, their ability to discharge 100 per cent of their power without damaging the battery and the fact that they retain their full storage capacity for many years,” Kempster said.
Specs: The Bates family’s energy storage system is made up six Redflow ZCell zinc-bromine flow batteries, two Victron Quattro 48/10000 inverter/chargers and 72 Tindo 260-watt solar panels, with an 18.72 kilowatt peak (kWp) capacity. The system is monitored remotely by Off-Grid Energy and Redflow.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
This post was published on November 1, 2017 9:32 am
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What an absolute failure. Designing a new house that can't even hold it's temperature without intervention for 24 hours, such that that intervention needs to be both heating and cooling. I hope the architect has given his degree back.
As for the 19kW of panels and 60kWh of batteries in Queensland, does onestepoffthegrid really want to promote that this is the sort of extravagance required to go off the grid?
They are situated out in the middle of nowheresville and off grid so going big with their install is entirely understandable. The cost of their grid connection has been reallocated to going big with their install which seems logical to me.
So if they had been another 1km out they should have spent still more?
What do you mean? How does being an extra 1 km away from the connection point mean spending more? Off grid is off grid...2.7kms away or 3.7kms.
Over $120k to go off grid though? Could have been done frugally for $20k.
"nowheresville"?
Sheesh, Wallumbilla is not that far out! Innaminka, now that's getting nowheresville!
What planet are you on juxx0r? The house is located in the outback where it gets really hot and really cold. They said it was well insulated, but when we get the week-long heatwaves (of which there are now 3-5 each year and getting more frequent) there is no architect on earth that could design a house that can remain comfortable through that. With the cost and chaos of the electricity industry brought about by conservatives by inability to face facts and willingness to distort information it is a wonder that anybody facing connection costs over distances above 200 metres is not jumping at the opportunity to go off-grid. I know we did.
Congratulations Scott and Breeann, your system looks really well thought-out!
I lived in a house in Sweden with an external temperature of -40DegC with all the heating provided by the occupants and the appliances, with no heaters. So there is some architects on earth who can control the temperature of a house for more than an hour or so.
You should try living in our climate when the temperature is in the mid 40's during the day and the mid 30's at night. It is difficult to work outside all day without having a cool place to rest for a break during the day and it is impossible to have a good night's sleep. Having an off-grid power system that allows you to pre-cool your house during the day and efficient fans and insulation to stay cool during the night is essential.
Is your problem that Scott and Breeann have enough money and enough sense to invest in a system that will allow them to work their farm and keep their family comfortable. Would it be more virtuous if they elected to live in a tent or a tin shack as many of the pioneers of their area did 100 years ago? Or do you have some other motive in putting forward your misplaced advice from the other side of the world?
Yeah yeah, i've lived in plus 50 and minus 40.
This: “Our variable climate means we can have the air conditioning cooling the house one day and then heating it the next,” she added." is not acceptable. It's a fail.
I agree with JuxxOr, as an off grid designer they have done ok with the PV array over sizing, but the storage is way too much. 60kwh over 3 days = 20kwh/ day without any PV input, although in reality there will be, in even the most shitty days there will be at least 9kwh input from an array that size, so that's only 11kwh the battery has to supply.
Average PV output in winter would be 56kwh, summer 112kwh.
My guess is these people don't know how much power they would truly need on 40c + days, that could go on for days.
My house has 9.3kw PV array and the battery can easily supply my air con during the night in such conditions, chewing no more than 3-5kwh extra than the normal 5-6kwh. It's all about energy management.
I agree, the amount off battery storage is way out there and the house either performs badly or they had no idea that it would perform better. See more below.
No, PV and battery storage is still probably on the small side for this installation, which results in a small amount of genset runtime.
Some people like their luxuries and use more power than others.
I have luxuries, like 4 split A/C's,3 wide screen TV'S, 2 Fridges and a Freezer, all that opens shuts. I run all of that on a 9.3kw array and 37kwh of storage. My last power bill was in credit $210.00, because I have that much excess power.
So what are these people doing, when they have an 18.7kw array and 60kwh of storage and still have to run the genset for Christ sake?
What! While I started work on a tiny house where I expected to have 10 KWh of battery storage, however I knew there would be times when I would need extended periods of power that is why I also planned to be able to tap into a 60 KWh battery of an electric car incase I needed the power long term.
Complaining about them having too much storage is silly.
The thing everybody is forgetting is that this is a farm not just a house. Lots of machinery and electric motors do farm type stuff, not just cooking the family meals.
no, you dont get it. This is simply a multi factor minimisation problem best defined in an equation.
Minimum cost = Minimum solar plus minimum storage.
Now we know that solar is way cheaper than storage.
We also know that on an overcast day solar puts out only about 1kWh per kWp. We can then use this to create a formula on equivalent terms.
So if your Maximum power required is 19.5kWh as defined by the solar installation of 19.5kWp, then your storage would necessarily need to be less than this unless you only use power at night, if they have a fridge then we know this isn't true.
kWh of Storage must be < 19.5kWh plus a safety factor.
Here we have Storage of 60kWh, so someone has failed to optimise the inputs. Now if the consumption is greater than 19.5kWh no amount of storage will cover extended cloud cover like you see during extended cyclone events and therefore more solar would be the cheaper option.
There is no way that this was optimised to minimise cost in the current cost environment. They spent circa $100k on batteries and circa $20k on solar. Had they spent circa $40k on Solar, they could have spent only $50k on batteries, saving around $30k whilst still having 30kWh of nighttime consumption, which is totally implausible unless you're trying.
Lol ok. people are allowed to spend their money as they see fit.
Yes this house could have been designed for a more efficient use of electricity, but it wasn't due to a few reasons.
I actually installed this system, and its certainly not the largest off-grid system I have put in either (250kwhr per day residential is the largest I've done).
Having the attitude that people must be power frugal to live off-grid is not helping the cause.
Such a very nice way for green living...I do hope I can be able to this also..
These stories are incomplete without cost analysis..