How much does a remote off-grid solar power system cost?

Cost depends on battery capacity, wind region certification and options, so we size and price per configuration rather than publishing a single figure. To model your own site and get an indicative configuration, use the ModX2 calculator.

What we can be specific about is where the money actually goes on a remote power project, because that is usually the more useful answer. On a component-built alternative, the costs that surprise people are rarely the panels and batteries. They are:

• Structural certification, several thousand dollars and 6 to 12 weeks on the critical path
• Field integration labour, two to five days of licensed electrical work per site, multiplied across a rollout
• Integration troubleshooting when separately procured components do not communicate
• Battery replacements over a fifteen-year horizon, if the chemistry chosen cannot handle daily cycling, each one a remote site visit rather than a parts cost

For a multi-site programme, ask any supplier for cost per site at ten units rather than cost per unit at one. It changes the answer.