What changed
Until recently, home battery systems could not run off-grid. Going off-grid meant different equipment that was far more expensive, more complicated and harder to use. Systems from Sigenergy, Sungrow and a few other manufacturers can now do it.
How the cost compares
In our experience, a traditional off-grid system, with a different style of battery stack, inverter and generator, generally costs about double what people pay for one of these systems now. We do not publish prices, because the size of the system depends on the site and what will be built on it.
What an off-grid system can look like
On a block at Woodstock with no chance of an Ergon connection, we installed 20kW of panels on the shed, a 30kW Sigenergy inverter and 48kWh of battery. The system is set up so a generator can be added once the house is built, to cover bad solar days.
We also installed Starlink so the system can be monitored over the internet. On a remote site that is how we see if something goes wrong.
What to ask before you commit
Ask how the system will be monitored, who will service it and how far they are from the site, and what happens on a run of cloudy days. A generator connection answers the last one.