Solar is now one of the cheapest sources of electricity for homes, farms, schools and businesses in Kenya. The question is less whether to install it than which kind of system to install.
Grid-tied
Panels feed an inverter that runs your loads alongside the grid. There are no batteries.
- Best for: sites with a reliable grid that use most of their power during the day, such as offices, shops, factories and schools.
- Advantages: lowest cost per unit of energy, little maintenance, fast payback.
- Limitation: for safety, a grid-tied inverter shuts down when the grid fails, so it gives no power during outages.
Off-grid
Panels charge a battery bank, and an inverter supplies the loads from the batteries. There is no connection to the grid.
- Best for: remote sites, farms, boreholes, telecom and security installations, and solar street lighting.
- Advantages: independent of the grid, with no connection costs or monthly bills.
- Limitation: the panels and batteries must be sized for the worst weather and the heaviest load, which makes the system larger and more expensive. Batteries also need replacing during the system's life.
Hybrid
A hybrid inverter works with the grid, the panels and a battery bank together. Solar powers the loads first, surplus charges the batteries, and the grid tops up when needed. When the grid fails, the batteries take over.
- Best for: sites with frequent outages, and anywhere critical loads such as cold rooms, servers, clinics or security systems must keep running.
- Advantages: solar savings plus backup power, and it can replace or reduce generator use.
- Limitation: higher cost than grid-tied because of the batteries.
How to decide
| Grid-tied | Off-grid | Hybrid | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power during outages | No | Yes | Yes |
| Batteries | No | Yes | Yes |
| Relative cost | Lowest | Highest | Medium to high |
| Needs a grid supply | Yes | No | Yes, but runs without it |
Start with a load assessment: what you run, when you run it, and which loads must stay on during an outage. That sets the system type and size more reliably than a rule of thumb.
We design and install grid-tied, off-grid and hybrid systems, and solar street lighting for counties and institutions. Talk to us about your site.
Planning a power or electrical project?
Tell us what you need and our engineers will arrange a site survey.