Why Solar Engine?

The Solar Engine will do everything a generator can but better, and without the pollution. If you're sick of the smell, the noise and the maintenance, then the Solar Engine might be the thing you didn't know you needed, and you'd be forgiven for not knowing because there's nothing like it in Australia!

Let's look at the facts and figures:

Now let's have a look at what that means for your wallet:

* Price based on fuel cost of $1.50L
** This cost can increase after 1 year due to limited warranties, maintenance & servicing
*** This cost is a reliable figure for a minimum of 3 years thanks to Solar Engine's 3 year warranty

As you can see, depending on the usage, a generator may still be the better option in some cases. The Solar Engine is most definitely not for everyone, however, if you are dependent on a generator for more than even a few hours a day, owning a Solar Engine will make your life a whole lot easier. The table above leaves out a lot of the lesser factors, not the least of which being the costs associated with acquiring the fuel to run your generator I.E. driving to the service station.

It takes the hassle out of the matter; no more smelling like fuel, trying to work out why the generator has suddenly shut off in the middle of cooking or showering and no more maintenance. Don't throw your generator away though! The Solar Engine comes with a 240V charging plug in case the battery runs too low and there isn't sufficient sunlight to charge it via the solar panels, i.e. of a night time or during excessive cloud cover. We recommend always having redundancy.

The Solar Engine consists of all the conventional technology which would be used in a normal, residential solar system, the only difference being portability. It contains up to 32 x 100aH Lithium Ion batteries to store up to 8kWh of power at 48V DC. It contains 2 shutoff solenoids to prevent over and under-charging through a controller which displays your current battery voltage so you always know how full or empty it is. From here, it connects to a powerful 6kW inverter which supplies 240V AC to four 10A general purpose outlets (GPOs) via a bank of circuit breakers with earth leakage protection. This bank also includes a main switch to turn the entire Solar Engine on and off, as well as an excess power changeover switch which bypasses the batteries and provides a direct link between your solar array and your inverter, giving you the ability to harness 4.8kW (with 12 x 400W panels) of continuous output without putting unnecessary extra strain on your batteries. This can be used for high draw applications such as pumping, hot water and air conditioning. Take a minute to study the control panel below: