Announcing the Off-Grid Rate for March!

In our last post, we mentioned that although it rained a lot in March, we only ran out of power for one day!

This time, I will share the specific figures for March (^^)/

・We only ran out of power for 1 day! That amounts to 2 hours.

During this period, the electricity we purchased from the power company was...
March 26th, 23:00 - 25:00, approximately 2 hours.

The monitor image below shows the status at sunset on that day.

Due to the steady rain from the previous day, the 25th, the battery level was at 21% by sunset on the 26th.
At this rate, the remaining battery would hit 0% by the early hours of the next morning, around 3:00 or 4:00 AM.

The sunrise time the next morning was 5:35 AM.
It wouldn't be until after 6:30 AM that the sun would be high enough for solar power generation to kick in.

So, rather than waiting for a power outage in the early morning, we turned the breaker on during the night.
This was the only time this month that we bought electricity.

・Total electricity usage in March was 371.247 kWh.

We totaled the electricity capacity measured by the smart distribution board to match the billing period for the purchased electricity (February 12th to April 10th, 30 days).

The total electricity usage for March was 371.247 kWh.

Compared to the total usage in February (395.734 kWh), it is 85%.
You can see that it has gotten much warmer and the energy used has decreased.

So, what about the amount of electricity purchased?

・Electricity purchased was 9 kWh. The electricity bill excluding the basic charge was 197 yen.

According to the power company's bill, the actual amount purchased was 9 kWh.
(The top photo shows the breakdown.)

We divide this 9 kWh by the total usage of 371.247 kWh and subtract it.
The calculation is 1 - (9 ÷ 371.247) = 0.97575...

・Off-grid rate: 97.58%

The trends for the amount of electricity purchased and the (off-grid rate) are as follows.

December: 6 kWh (98.22%)
January: 20 kWh (94.87%)
February: 55 kWh (86.10%)
March: 9 kWh (97.58%)

February, with its severe cold and short daylight hours, has passed, and although March had more rainy days than usual, the amount of electricity purchased decreased significantly.

We anticipated this in our preliminary simulations, but February is indeed the biggest challenge for an off-grid home. We have passed the peak of that crisis!

As we welcome the refreshing early summer, we are entering a season where we will almost never run out of power for a while.
Yay! (^^)/

kame: How to live in an off-grid house