Off-Grid · Power
Off-Grid Power: The Whole System, Explained
A derelict miles from anywhere often isn't on the grid — and getting Enedis to bring a line in can cost more than the house. Solar and a decent battery will run a simple, self-sufficient home for the price of that connection, with no bill ever again. But "off-grid power" is really several parts working together, and each is worth understanding on its own. This is the map; the deep dives are one click down.
This is written from doing it for real, on a modest budget, with my own hands — not from a solar company's brochure. The aim is a house that runs the everyday stuff off the sun most of the year, with an honest backup for the weeks when the sun barely clears the trees.
Do this first, before you choose off-grid: get a written mains-connection quote (a devis de raccordement) from Enedis for the exact plot. Sometimes a pole is at the boundary and a connection is a few thousand euros — cheaper and simpler than a full solar system. Sometimes it's half a kilometre away and they want €15,000+. You can't make the call until you know that number, and it's free to ask.
The parts of an off-grid power system
Each has its own page — start with solar and batteries, they're the heart of it.
Where the power comes from. Ground-mount vs roof, how much you really need for a French winter, tilt, and the charge controller.
Read the solar guide →🔋 BatteriesThe heart of the system, and the one place not to skimp. LFP vs lead-acid, how much capacity, 48 V, and cold-weather behaviour.
Read the battery guide →🔌 Inverter/chargerThe box that ties it all together — battery DC to mains 230 V, and the charger that refills the battery from a generator. Pure sine, sizing, surge.
Read the inverter guide →⛽ GeneratorsThe honest backup for the dark fortnight. Inverter vs conventional, petrol vs diesel, sizing, and how to wire one in.
Read the generator guide →🌬️ Wind turbinesThe tempting winter complement to solar — and why, honestly, it's the wrong buy on most inland French plots. When it actually earns its place.
Read the wind guide →How they fit together
Think of it as a chain. Solar makes the power. The batteryholds it so you have light and a fridge after dark. An inverter/charger ties it all together and gives you normal 230 V. And a generator covers the black weeks when the panels can't keep up. Wind is an optional extra that only pays on a genuinely exposed, windy site.
The everyday, most of the year
Panels charge the battery through the day; the battery runs the house through the evening and night. For eight or nine months of the French year that's the whole story — silent, free, no bill. A few kWh of battery comfortably runs lights, laptop, fridge, pump and charging.
The inverter/charger is the hub of the wiring
A hybrid inverter/charger connects the panels, the battery and the generator, and outputs clean 230 V. Size it to your real peak load — a kettle and a power tool at once, not a fantasy — and the whole system stays affordable. The generator wires through it, charging the battery, not the house directly. Full inverter guide →
The problem that drives every choice: winter plan for it
Mid-November to February is the whole design problem
Rural France gets proper sun for most of the year — but in the deep of winter the days are short and often grey, and a system that's perfect in June will leave you flat in December. That's not a reason to avoid off-grid; it's the one thing every part of the system has to be sized around. You solve it three ways, in order of value: a bit more solar than summer needs, enough battery to ride out a grey spell, and a generator for the genuinely black weeks.
Heat is a separate problem — and forest solves it
Never try to heat with electricity off-grid — you never will. Heat comes from a wood burner, and in the Morvan or Limousin the wood is on your doorstep. Keeping heat off the electrical budget is what makes the sums work.
What the whole system costs — and what you save
Rough, DIY, self-installed ranges. Prices move; treat these as a shape, not a quote. Per-part detail is on each page.
- £1.5–3kA starter system — a few panels, a small LFP battery, a hybrid inverter. Runs lights, fridge, laptop, charging and a pump. Enough to live simply while you build.
- £3–6kA comfortable everyday system — a bigger array and battery that carries a normal off-grid household most of the year, plus a generator for the dark weeks.
- £10k+The Enedis alternative you're avoiding — a remote mains connection can cost this or more, which is exactly why off-grid so often wins on a rural plot.
Every figure here is money you save by doing it yourself and never paying a standing charge or a unit again — not a bill you're handed. That's the whole point of the project.
Before you commit to a plot
Off-grid power only makes sense once you know the mains-connection cost and that the ground and roof are sound. Run the place through the free desk checks first.
The Armchair Checklist →