A Tiny House means tiny power needs! With our well designed window placement, your Tiny House will be sunlit most of the day. Our high quality wool insulation means a comfortable room temperature is easier to maintain.
Heating and cooling are the biggest users of energy in any home but you don’t have to compromise completely on your hot water, fridge, cooking or air conditioner when you rely on solar generated power.
Depending on your location and energy use, you may need more or less solar panels and batteries. Given the average Australian electricity bill, you’ll break-even in 6-7 years and never have to see a bill again!
All our Tiny Houses come solar power ready but whether you take up the solar power off-grid option at the start of your tiny living journey or further down the track is a choice. We’ve made the choice easier for you by having solar-ready designs and will help you create a personalised energy solution.
Reasons for using solar power system for a Tiny House
Many of our clients begin semi-off grid, sharing electricity with the main house on the property where they’re parked. If you are renting land it may be worthwhile connecting to the mains power and sharing bills, especially if there are grid-connected solar panels on the roof of the landlord’s house already.
Our clients Amy and Greg reduced their monthly electricity bill from $285 to $40 by going tiny! Living simpler is the way to financial freedom and reducing the impact on global resources.
It’s easier to be off-grid and use renewable energy when you own your home, are in a regional or rural area and especially doable if you have a Tiny House.
Establishing a solar system does require a financial investment. The batteries are often the pricier item in the system, although advances in technology are bringing the price down every year. Batteries typically need replacing every 10 years and depending on where you live, you may be able to harness the sunshine and run your equipment during sunshine hours without drawing on stored battery power.
Our Tiny Houses come standard with gas hot water systems. If you’d prefer to heat your water with solar power you may need to add a setup like Living Tiny and Green. They also create their own Bio-Gas and use it for cooking!
Solar Power System options for your Tiny House
All our Tiny House models are designed to be upgraded with off-grid options. We support and want to provide all our customers the option of independent living off the grid, encouraging a more conscious and sustainable lifestyle.
There are many solar systems available and technology is improving all the time. Consider what appliances you’d like to run off solar electricity, how much energy they consume, and your average energy consumption.
Going off-grid is a process that may require habit changes! Some appliances have very high energy consumption and may need to be replaced by more energy-efficient options. Appliances such as air conditioners, hairdryers, electric kettles, electric toasters, electric cooktops, and ovens may need to be substituted for more energy-efficient alternatives when going off-grid.
We have tailored Solar system packages to suit most energy requirements. All our packages come with Lithium batteries. Technology has developed immensely to incorporate the use of Lithium batteries which are smaller and weigh considerably less than the old AGM batteries.
| Specifications and Inclusions | EPS 2-2 | EPS 2-5 | EPS+ 3-7 |
| Battery Storage kWh | 2.4 | 4.8 | 7.2 |
| Battery Type | Lithium | Lithium | Lithium |
| Solar Panel Qty | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Solar Panel Size (Watts) | 370 | 370 | 440 |
| Solar Capacity (Watts) | 1850 | 2220 | 2640 |
| Inverter Model | Luxpower | Luxpower | Victron |
| Inverter Normal (Watts) | 3000 | 3000 | 5000 |
| Inverter Peak (Watts) | 3600 | 3600 | 10000 |
| 4G Modem with Wifi | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| EPS Cabinet | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Smart Phone Access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Application | Light Small Fridge LED Lights 240v Appliances TV/Computer No AC system Gas Appliances | Medium Medium Fridge LED Lights 240v Appliances TV/Computer Small AC system Gas Appliances | Heavy Medium/Large Fridge LED Lights 240v Appliances TV/Computer Small AC system Gas Cooktop Electric Oven Dishwasher |
| Total cost Installed | $12,708.50 | $15,605.20 | $20,811.40 |
Extra components for Solar Power System
| Components | Cost Installed |
| Solar Panel (370watt) 1763x1040mm | $700.00 |
| Solar Panel (440watt) 2115x1052mm | $820.00 |
| 2.4KW/h battery module | $2700.00 |
Quick guide to solar power components
Source: Australian Rainbow Power Company, solar specialists since 1987
Solar Panels
These harvest the power of the sun, in the form of watts. They come in different sizes which equate to their capacity for harvest ie. small panels can catch a small amount. Panels can be connected and added to easily.
Batteries
These store the power in the form of ampere hours – usually 12, 24 or 48 volt options. The size of the batteries determines how much power you can store and access. Ampere hours or kilowatt hours is the measurement of the storage capacity of a battery. These guys are the most expensive part of your system, and also will contribute the most weight.
Inverter
This takes the stored battery power from low voltage (DC) to 230 volts (AC) allowing you to use the same appliances as you would in a regular grid connected house. The process of changing the voltage does have an associated efficiency loss, and the inverter itself requires power to run. The size of the inverter (ie 3kW) determines the types of appliances you use, based on the power draw (in watts) these appliances require. For example, a small inverter may not provide the power needed to run a blender, which requires a large power draw, and a water pump, and charge your computer all simultaneously. The larger the inverter, the more appliances it will support, however, the more power the inverter itself will require to run and the larger the battery bank required to store the power.
Tiny homes can be run on only 12V (or 24V) DC, negating the need for an inverter and maximising the amount of energy available from the batteries, however you need special 12V appliances, as the plug size is different and won’t fit in a ‘normal’ 230V AC outlet. While it will be cheaper in the short term to choose a 12V system, the appliances you require are more expensive, and 12V systems are extremely difficult and expensive to upgrade.
Watch this explanation of Rainbow Power Company’s DIY solar kit to see the components of a typical Tiny House solar system.
When you upgrade to an Aussie Tiny Houses solar package, panels can be installed on the Tiny House roof, depending on the roof’s shape. Roof design will affect the amount of panels that may be installed. A more practical option is to mount the solar panels on the ground. This means less weight on the roof, the panels are easier to wipe clean and they’ll be in full sun while the house can be parked in some shade.
It’s important to choose batteries for your home based on the capacity of your solar panels to harvest power and the amount of power you need access to, which is based on your household energy consumption. The greater your power consumption, the more stored power you need and therefore the larger batteries required. Note, batteries are heavy and need storing away from insects and the weather. Our solar packages come with a cabinet.
Backup power
A hybrid system allowing you to plug into mains electricity for extended rainy days is a good backup power option. Our standard Tiny Houses run on a 15amp mains power with a safety switchboard. The Tiny House can be plugged in using an electrical power lead just like a traditional caravan.
For heavy-use equipment, like a vacuum cleaner or room heater, you may need to use a generator, battery charger, or simply harvest more solar power with more panels and store it in larger batteries as a reserve.
We offer full off-grid solar power system packages that are designed to run your entire house, a variety of composting toilet options, a gas hot water system and gas appliances, rainwater storage tanks, pumps, greywater systems, and water filters. Contact us to chat more about off-grid setups and the possibilities of solar power to run a Tiny House.
1 COMMENT
Lesley
3 years agoThrilled to see Aussie Tiny Houses has a complete Solar Panel System on a Trailer available now! Here’s the explainer video on the ATH Youtube channel: