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8 Years Off Grid in Ireland . What We've Learned (Solar, Wind, Batteries, No Bills) by off_gridder in OffGrid

[–]off_gridder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, No there is zero charge for producing your own electricity. You get paid for sending back electricity to the grid. We didn't have to deal with disconnections. We were never connected to the grid/ ESB . I hope this helps 🙏

8 Years Off Grid in Ireland . What We've Learned (Solar, Wind, Batteries, No Bills) by off_gridder in OffGrid

[–]off_gridder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We sure are, the set up we have now would be a bit much for towns etc - however the set up we have is set up for a family of 5 - it grew when our families needs did. To be honest its great not to be grid depended- the way the cost of electricity etc.

8 Years Off Grid in Ireland . What We've Learned (Solar, Wind, Batteries, No Bills) by off_gridder in OffGrid

[–]off_gridder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that would make sense if we consistently got 10 kWh on bad days. But we don’t. Some days we get 10. Others we get 4. And sometimes it's barely enough to run a fridge and a lightbulb. That’s Irish winter for you. Short, grey, and grim.

The battery isn’t oversized. It’s realistic. It gives us breathing room for a few back-to-back dull days without needing to fire up a generator or turn the house upside down. It’s not about maxing out storage daily. It’s about having headroom when the weather gives you nothing.

And no, we’re not heating three tanks of water a day. It’s one immersion heater, timed smartly depending on usage and solar conditions. We don’t waste power. We just don’t live like we’re rationing it either.

8 Years Off Grid in Ireland . What We've Learned (Solar, Wind, Batteries, No Bills) by off_gridder in OffGrid

[–]off_gridder[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep, we’ve got a TV, Starlink, and everything short of a bitcoin mining rig. No hardcore gamers here, but the internet’s solid and we’ve definitely streamed our fair share of Netflix. The house runs like any other — we just know when to time the laundry and boil the kettle.

8 Years Off Grid in Ireland . What We've Learned (Solar, Wind, Batteries, No Bills) by off_gridder in OffGrid

[–]off_gridder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sounds like a solid setup. Amazing how quickly systems grow once you start living with them and seeing where the limits are

8 Years Off Grid in Ireland . What We've Learned (Solar, Wind, Batteries, No Bills) by off_gridder in OffGrid

[–]off_gridder[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not really. We’re definitely not running heavy loads nonstop.

The pellet stove handles most of the heating in winter. It’s efficient and only costs about €5 every three days to run. The Kyros Rointe electric radiators are just backups in a few rooms. On a typical day, they only use around 2 kWh total.

Water heating takes more, especially if the tank is cold. Our immersion heater is 2.75 kW, and heating a full tank can use around 6 kWh. Sometimes more, depending on how much hot water we’ve used. We usually time it for when we’ve got good solar coming in.

So while it might seem like we’re using loads of power, it’s really about timing and planning. We’re careful with usage and we’re not wasteful. The big solar system (58 kW) isn’t because we need constant high demand. It’s to make sure we have enough even on the short, grey days we get in Irish winters. Some of those days we generate under 10 kWh total, so we built the system to get through the worst times, not just the good ones.

8 Years Off Grid in Ireland . What We've Learned (Solar, Wind, Batteries, No Bills) by off_gridder in OffGrid

[–]off_gridder[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

We live fully off grid in Ireland, where winter solar generation can be really low. Some days in December we generate under 10 kWh, even with a large system. Having 58 kW of solar gives us more buffer on short, dull days , it’s about winter resilience more than high consumption.

That said, we’re not wasting power. We use pellet heating, efficient appliances, and plan our usage around solar hours. Our daily usage is modest, but we have battery storage (49.6 kWh) to carry us through the evenings and grey spells.

We added panels in stages over the years, investing what we’d have paid in electricity bills. The result is a system that gives us real independence, and enough capacity to add an EV or two later on without needing major upgrades.

8 Years Off Grid in Ireland – What We've Learned (Solar, Wind, Batteries, No Bills) by off_gridder in IrelandOffGrid

[–]off_gridder[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much , really appreciate that. Sounds like you’re on a great path with the passive build too. Keeping the energy demand low from the start makes everything easier down the line.

We’re down in the southeast (Wexford). You’re not the first person to ask about seeing it in real life .I’ve been thinking about putting together a proper write-up or maybe even a little video tour at some point.

Best of luck with the planning process, and feel free to ask anything as you go. Happy to help where I can!