Turn Grid-Tied into Off-Grid Solar
Net Metering Isn’t What It Used To Be? Having a Load of Solar Panels and Still No Power During Outages?
Grid-tied solar isn’t what it used to be, as outages become more frequent and net metering contracts pay you peanuts for your investment.
Most grid-tied solar systems, unless you pay $100k+, don’t have battery storage. (Tesla Powerwall and the like charge from the wall, so if power companies turn off electricity for long enough, you’re out of luck). You still have to pay SCE to cover your nighttime power needs, while left staring at a roof full of solar panels during outages with meat rotting in your fridge.
The on-grid solar arrangement was once acceptable when power companies gave customers close to 1 kW of credit for every 1 kW they fed into the grid. Not anymore. These days, new and renegotiated contracts offer around 0.15 kW of credit for every 1 kW fed into the grid. Customers get huge yearly bills, while SCE twiddles its thumbs and prints money off your roof.
We do solar differently
What does it look like when you work with us?
>> Read our client success stories
Convert grid-tied solar to off-grid solar
The good news is that you don’t have to throw out all your solar panels to turn the tables. We can transform your setup into an off-grid solution with battery storage, helping you become independent from the grid (e.g., you’ll have free power during the night and no interruption during outages).
An on-site consultation where we assess your needs and help you balance requirements, budget, and technology constraints.
Solar trajectory calculation and recommendations to improve your solar panel placement or orientation, if applicable.
A health check for all equipment we’ll reuse in the new setup.
A grid-as-backup implementation using SCE to handle occasional high-power applications or fill in during cloudy days (this approach can save you thousands on “just in case” capacity you’d rarely use).
Error-proof switching mechanism avoids accidental back-feeding.
Bluetooth-enabled equipment for monitoring solar production and battery charging status via smartphone apps.
Annual battery health check after 5 years for lithium cobalt batteries and 7 years for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
Grid-tie to off-grid solar conversion in action
This solution transforms an existing grid-tied system into an off-grid solar setup to help the client lower power bills after their net-metering contract expires while building resilience against frequent outages.
The setup reuses the client’s existing solar panel field, two 12,000W 240V inverters with built-in SCC and auto-switchover feature, and a custom-built high-endurance lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery (~21 kWh). The whole-ranch solution can support a 24,000W continuous load and a 36,000W surge load.
Why Justplug?
☀️ We live and work in rural California. We understand remote sites, off-grid wells, dusty hot environments, critter issues, and the importance of keeping things simple and reliable.
👷♂️ We focus on practical application and real-world performance, not sales fluff.
🔧 We’re hands-on. You get from-the-trenches insights and experience baked into the design.
💰 We don’t push the highest margin “one size fits all” system. We help you right-size the solution for your lifestyle and budget. A fiduciary professional service, if you will.
🤓 We ground our work in a resilient energy strategy that unlocks the potential of rural land and living.