. . . . run a shop "off-grid"?

[stonethrower]

a friend is renting a premises in town and plans to open for business in the New Year . . . . the catch is the premises has been vacant for some time and the mains electricity has been disconnected to save the land-lord paying standing charge. re-connection is frighteningly expensive.

he is considering running a generator (he is running a 8kva diesel generator at present while fixing the place up) . . . . he will have no major load once the place opens . . . . realistically we are talking about lighting and radio, perhaps a computer but maybe battery-powered laptop would do here . . . . major drawback would be his fondness for the kettle

heating will be a solid-fuel stove

my question is, how realistic would solar be in this situation, and how cheaply could it be done?

[southeast-isher]

Sorry i can't help but i hope someone on here can. Also i would definitely post up on the Navitron forum and ask for a guy called Martin, they are all really helpful and know their stuff. Good luck.

http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/

[camillitech]

Hi Stonethrower,

I live 'off grid' myself and have a great fondness for it, but a shop in town sounds like a complete non starter. The cost of a reconnection, no matter how expensive will soon be recouped against the expense of a reliable battery, inverter solar set up. You say it's only for a few lights etc but what about the till, credit card machine, door chime, burglar alarm, etc, etc. I know little of these things but would guess that some of them need constant 24 hour power, all of which will eat away at your stored energy.

It is doable and could indeed be a good attraction for your friends business, especially when the lights go out in town. However if cost is the issue forget it.

Cheers, Paul

[KathyLauren]

If you are going to go the generator route, be sure to only use a battery powered laptop with it. You can run a laptop off a generator much more safely than you can a desktop computer, since the batteries will condition the dirty power coming from the generator.

[paul123456]

Hello there ,

if your friend is renting a shop ,why is the electricity not included ? If you rent a place since when has electricity not been excluded ? Maybe in the 3rd world .
If you would be renting a place in the town and be using a generator for power is this a situation that will be accepted ?
What about the noise a generator create's and then the fumes ?

And then especially in Ireland what about the insurance company ? if anything would ever happen ?
Do not think that this is very likelly to happen , or is it in Ireland ?

Getting connected to the grid would be for a business deductable from taxes .
and then there is then there is the question if an 8kva would supply enough power .
Maybe in the 3rd world ?Most probably not in europe .

regards ,

Paul

[oldjerry]

[quote="paul123456"]Hello there ,

if your friend is renting a shop ,why is the electricity not included ? If you rent a place since when has electricity not been excluded ? Maybe in the 3rd world .




Yep, That'll be the UK mate...!!!

[stonethrower]

Hi Stonethrower,

I live 'off grid' myself and have a great fondness for it, but a shop in town sounds like a complete non starter. The cost of a reconnection, no matter how expensive will soon be recouped against the expense of a reliable battery, inverter solar set up. You say it's only for a few lights etc but what about the till, credit card machine, door chime, burglar alarm, etc, etc. I know little of these things but would guess that some of them need constant 24 hour power, all of which will eat away at your stored energy.

It is doable and could indeed be a good attraction for your friends business, especially when the lights go out in town. However if cost is the issue forget it.

Cheers, Paul

hi Paul,

am an avid follower of your blog btw . . . .

perhaps i explained this badly, the off-grid scenario is not seen as a permanment thing, the idea is to assess if the business will be viable before landing out the price of re-connection

the rent reflects the fact that there is no electricity . . . . he isn't being screwed

regarding noise/fumes . . . the "jenny" will be boxed for noise reduction and located in a shed to the rear of the premises and fumes to be piped out

the idea is obviously to reduce the load to a minimum and see if there is an affordable way of eliminating the need for the jenny altogether . . . . the building has large windows facing east and south so is quite bright for daylight hours . . . . no burgler alarm although the credit-card machine is one i hadn't thought of

insurance issue could be a stumbling block here in Ireland alright

thanks for all the replies lads

[camillitech]

I see Stonethrower,

in that case would it be possible for him to have a large battery bank that he took home every night and charged at home? Of course this would only really be practical if he has a car and can park right next to the shop, it would also need sizing correctly and an expensive inverter/charger but it is doable.

If as you say only temporary then there are plenty of these burgervans that operate all day on those tiny silent petrol generators, perhaps it's worth speaking to an owner to find out exactly what the cost is.

Good luck and glad you like the blog, Paul