Consider a scenario where a farmer living in an isolated rural community needs access to electricity. But the community is miles away from grid access. It is in this situation that that the concept of off-grid gains prominence.

The term “off-grid” literally means “off the grid”.

An off-grid system is a decentralized renewable energy system adopted by homes and small businesses to produce reliable and cost-effective power. In isolated locations, off-grid systems tend to be cheaper than establishing transmission lines in the area.

In order to set-up an off-grid solar system, apart from purchasing the solar PV system you will need to invest in energy storage systems, as off-grid solar power systems without storage will not be able to supply power when there’s no sunshine.

In addition to rooftop solar PV, some of the off-grid solar products that are popular, especially in developing countries, include:

• Solar lanterns
• Solar streetlights
• Solar pumps
• Solar torch lights