HHS Off-Grid Solar Power System
A solar power system allows you to live off the grid and achieve energy self-sufficiency. It also protects you from power outages. This is important if you live in a rural area where the power grid doesn’t reach.
DOE is working with HHS to develop a community solar customer platform that connects LIHEAP-eligible households with low-cost, renewable energy subscriptions. This will enable them to reduce their electricity bills and improve their resilience to climate-related harms.
Cost-Effective
HHS off-grid solar power systems are cost-effective, with energy savings of up to 50 percent compared to traditional power generation. Additionally, the cost 10Kw battery home solar power station of installing a PV system is less expensive than many HHS projects, such as HVAC upgrades, building insulation, or plumbing retrofits. HHS facilities should explore life-cycle cost-effective options to achieve energy efficiency, sustainability, and resilience goals. This includes heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), boilers, steam systems, lighting, electrical systems, water heating, electricity generation from renewable sources, fuel switching technologies, and cogeneration.
In addition, a number of local and state incentives are available for solar investments. Incentives include cash rebates, tax credits, and low-interest loans. Incentives may be applied to both grid-tied and off-grid systems. However, the upfront costs of a fully off-grid solar system can be prohibitive for some families and communities.
To address this, the Biden-Harris Administration is introducing new initiatives to connect families to cleaner, more reliable clean energy and lower their electricity bills. For example, DOE is supporting community solar for households served by the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). This allows LIHEAP to cover community solar subscription fees through existing funding streams that help low-income families pay their gas, electric, propane and fuel oil utility bills.
Energy Self-Sufficiency
A home or business with an off-grid solar power system can generate and store all the energy it needs, free from dependence on traditional utility grids for backup. Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity, batteries serve as an energy ‘bank’, and an inverter transforms stored solar energy into the form that your appliances use. The result is complete energy self-sufficiency and a sense of independence that can be very appealing for some people.
An additional benefit of off-grid solar is the peace of mind that comes with knowing you are not vulnerable to power outages caused by unstable grid connections like in the case of a grid-tied system. For some, an off-grid battery backup system is the only way to live without the fear of losing power when a storm hits or a line crew is working.
The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to making renewable energy more accessible for low-income and disadvantaged households. Today, DOE and HHS are launching the pilot of the Clean Energy Connector, a first-of-its-kind tool that will enable local LIHEAP program administrators in Illinois, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico to connect community solar subscriptions with household savings to disadvantaged families through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
In addition, DOE is working with partners in the multifamily affordable housing sector to help building managers, owners, and developers add solar to their buildings. Using a model called NetZero, new buildings can be designed to produce as much energy as they consume, with any excess energy exported back to the grid for credit on the building’s electricity bill.
Reliability
Healthcare facilities require a continuous power supply to maintain critical operations. Power outages can be devastating, leading to loss of life-saving equipment and medication. However, solar energy systems can provide a reliable alternative to the grid by generating and storing energy in battery backups. These systems can ensure that the healthcare facility will have access to power even during a power outage.
Solar power can also help reduce healthcare costs by reducing dependence on the electrical grid. In addition, it is an environmentally friendly source of energy. In the long run, it can save hospitals and clinics money, which can be reinvested in other areas such as patient care.
The Biden-Harris Administration is helping more families take advantage of the health and savings that community solar can bring by developing and piloting a first-of-its-kind software to connect 12V Battery Series LIHEAP recipients with community solar subscriptions. The new platform will enable state LIHEAP administrators to use their funds to cover the cost of a solar energy system for low-income households, while providing strong consumer protections.
Our results show that countries without excess annual generation or energy storage have significantly less reliability than their peers (see the linear fits in Fig. 3a). However, increasing the amount of excess annual generation and energy storage can alleviate this disadvantage, as demonstrated by the nonlinear functions in the panels of Fig. 3. Furthermore, we evaluated the reliability of electricity systems aggregated at the national level (Supplementary Data 4; Fig. 3b) and at the subcontinent level (19 multinational regions; Fig. 3c), and again at the continental level (6 continents; Fig. 5c). Each step yields substantial increases in reliability, with a global average of >89.8% of hourly demand being met everywhere when energy is aggregated at the continental scale.
Flexibility
In the future, we will need a smarter grid that allows electricity to flow seamlessly from where it is generated to where it’s needed most. This will require the ability to rapidly ramp up and down generation from renewables, storage, hydro, and other conventional energy sources. Flexibility resources will also help to minimize the impact of residual load – the demand on the grid when there is less electricity being produced than it is used.
One of the most significant benefits of an off-grid solar power system is its flexibility to provide dependable, renewable, and sustainable energy. These systems typically use a combination of solar panels, battery systems for energy storage and a charge controller to manage the power flow from solar panels to batteries and back to appliances and electrical devices.
Off-grid solar power systems are also capable of supplying a substantial amount of energy to communities that lack access to grid power, and can be paired with backup generators for even greater reliability and autonomy. However, off-grid solar systems have several drawbacks including high costs and limited energy storage. For homeowners who are interested in off-grid solar but may be concerned about upfront costs, a battery-ready system that can easily be upgraded to include storage is a more cost-effective option. This will also allow you to begin saving immediately while still reaping the benefits of a grid-tied solar energy system.
