Powering Your Pāpākainga with Off-Grid Solar
"GridFree offers off-grid solar solutions tailored to the unique needs of pāpākainga, enabling whānau to embrace renewable energy, manage costs, and reduce their environmental footprint."
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How to replace the screw in your solar screw pump?
The screw or helical rotor is the part of the pump that actually pushes the water. Over time it will eventually wear down and you'll need to replace it.
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How to Read Gel Battery Voltage
A common mistake new solar users will make with our kits is reading your Gel battery charge using the bars or percentage on screen, and misinterpreting charging voltage vs resting.
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How to get the most out of your solar kit
An off grid solar kit is a significant investment, and with some careful planning and attention, you can maximise its output and longevity.
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Getting Power to a Rural Property NZ
Have you just purchased a lifestyle block? Maybe you’re moving onto family land that has no services? Getting power to a rural property is usually the first task, so that you can progress all...
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Configuring your Growatt 5kW ES Hybrid Inverter for Generator Input
How to change Manual and Auto Start Generator settings on your Growatt 5kW ES Hybrid Inverter
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Why is my inverter shutting off due to "battery low voltage"?
Both our standard inverter and hybrid inverter/chargers have low voltage protections. In a hybrid inverter, you may get warning about "battery low voltage" or "battery over-discharge", and in a standard system...
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Expanding a GridFree Solar Power Kit
As we come into winter, you may not be getting the same amount of power out of your kit as you did in summer, so you might be considering expanding...
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Off-Grid Solar 101 - How Does an Off-Grid Solar Power System Work?
So how does off grid solar work? It’s a pretty simple process! The solar panels collect energy from the sun’s rays, which is stored in the batteries, so the energy...
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Off-Grid Solar Batteries: Lead Acid vs Lithium
When it comes to setting up your own off-grid solar system, there are typically two solutions to the question of how to store all that energy: Lithium Ion, and Sealed...
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Why is Trina our Solar Panel of Choice?
At GridFree, the Trina Honey is our new solar panel of choice, and we are proud to use it in our kits for several reasons.
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What Not to Run on Solar (and What to Use Instead)
If it’s your first time off-grid and you’re used to city power, there are a few changes you’ll have to make to adapt to solar power. If you’re already off-grid...
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5 Mistakes to Avoid When Designing your Solar System
If you're not well versed in solar, it can become complex and confusing pretty quickly, so it's easy get started down the wrong path without realising it. To help prevent any...
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Tilting your panels to maximise solar energy absorption
We have had a few questions from customers about how best to tilt their solar panels to optimise their solar energy collection, so we've put together a simple diagram and...
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Solar Power Troubleshooting Guide
We’ve compiled this list of common problems our customers may encounter with their solar gear to help you solve any issues as fast as possible. If you don’t find the...
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30 Common Solar Power Terms, and What They Mean
We know learning about solar power energy and how it all works can be confusing, so we’ve put together a breakdown of the most common solar power jargon. If you...
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What to Know BEFORE You Go Solar
Switching to solar power means clean, renewable energy, and ending your reliance on the grid. It also means going through some big lifestyle changes, but it doesn’t have to be a...
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How to Position Your Solar Panels
The positioning of your off-grid solar system is important, as it determines the amount of solar energy you can harvest. Understanding the basics of solar geometry will help you increase...
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READ THIS before installing solar in your Motorhome
Every day more and more motorhome owners are going solar. Solar is a clean and quiet option that allows you to travel off-grid for longer without sacrificing your power needs. A motorhome...
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DIY Solar Power Safety Tips
Installing your own Photovoltaic Power system is not that difficult, and with a few simple precautions you can make it even easier. Working with any kind of electricity carries with...
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Off-Grid Solar Basics for Going GridFree in NZ - 102
Thinking of going off the grid with solar energy? We’ve created this complete guide to help you! Off grid living means you have no connection to the electric utility’s distribution...
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Series vs Parallel Wiring for Off Grid Solar
In this blog, we will talk about the differences between parallel and series connections, and how they are can be applied in an off-grid setup.
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How to Use and Maintain Deep Cycle Solar Batteries
We get a lot of customers asking us for guidance on how to use and maintain their batteries to get the most life out of them. With the help of...
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What Is Battery Cycle Life And Depth Of Discharge
Depth of Discharge is how much energy is discharged from the battery before it is charged to 100% again. A common measurement is battery cycle life, at 50% D.O.D (Depth...
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