{"id":27748,"date":"2024-01-19T12:49:12","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T10:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/?p=27748"},"modified":"2025-11-17T16:17:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T14:17:51","slug":"mini-grid-for-extended-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/19\/mini-grid-for-extended-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Mini-grid for extended family"},"content":{"rendered":"

The power supply at Tim and Fiona’s<\/span> homestead in Auckland, New Zealand is distributed from a micro grid which serves their extended family of eight, across three tiny homes, the main residence, and large workshop.<\/p>\n

They have an EV and their private water supply is from filtered rainwater which is pressurised – so the power demand across the site can be quite high.<\/p>\n

At their rural location power cuts on the electricity grid have always been a feature of normal life. But initially the problems of solar power distribution to each household and the varying patterns of power consumption within each dwelling meant that the calculation and sizing of the new solar energy installation was complicated. Planning a system which would work for him, Tim says he felt well supported by the solar engineering, procurement and construction company Sustainable Power Solutions. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He’d been dreaming of building a reliable solar energy system capable of providing most – if not all – of their energy needs for 15 years …now they’ve got it he’s really pleased with how it’s all working out. Dependence on the electricity grid has fallen almost to nil, and he plans a final phase which will allow them to disconnect from the grid entirely.<\/p>\n

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Installation<\/h4>\n

Having completed a site survey Sustainable Power Solutions decided to distribute power from a central hub – built inside a small container. This offers several advantages:<\/p>\n