Off-Grid Solar With Generator Backup
No grid, no wait. For new builds waiting on a connection, and for tenants outside Dubai whose connected load falls short, the sun runs your site and a generator backs it up.
- The sun carries the day, a battery the evening, and the generator only fills the gap.
- For new builds waiting on a connection, and for tenants outside Dubai whose building has too little load.
- Solar Oasis designs the solar, the generator controller and the battery from a virtual load study.
By Mujtaba Ali, Co-Founder & Director. Last reviewed .
Who it's for
Building something new?
The connection charge, the wait, and the rented diesel in between. Solar and a battery can power the site from day one.
Renting a factory or warehouse outside Dubai?
The load you need is more than the building has. An extension costs you, and it is not yours to take with you. Off-grid solar is yours.
Your four options, side by side
Four ways to power a site that has no connection, or too little load. Read down a column, or across a row.
Off-grid solar with generator backup
- Upfront cost
- Priced after the load study, designed to your load.
- Time to power
- No wait for a connection.
- Monthly running cost
- No fuel for the solar. The generator only fills the gap.
- Who keeps the benefit
- You do: it is your system.
- If you move
- If you move, the system can be taken down and put back up at your next site.
Wait for the utility
- Upfront cost
- Hundreds of thousands of dirhams, millions with a transformer or substation.
- Time to power
- Months, sometimes years.
- Monthly running cost
- A monthly utility bill, once connected.
- Who keeps the benefit
- The connection stays with the site.
- If you move
- A new connection at the next site.
Pay for a load extension
A tenant's option outside Dubai
- Upfront cost
- Hundreds of thousands of dirhams, millions with a transformer or substation.
- Time to power
- Months, sometimes years.
- Monthly running cost
- A monthly utility bill.
- Who keeps the benefit
- A load extension stays with the building.
- If you move
- You leave it behind.
Run diesel
- Upfront cost
- Hire or buy the set.
- Time to power
- As soon as a set arrives.
- Monthly running cost
- Diesel power typically costs three to four times what grid power costs, in fuel alone.
- Who keeps the benefit
- Nothing you keep: the fuel is used up.
- If you move
- The set moves with you.
A client we met this year was told their connection would take about four years, unless they paid an express premium on every kVA to get power within a year. Some utilities offer a faster connection for a higher charge per kVA.
How it works
We study your load
Send bills, fuel receipts, generator run hours, drawings or an equipment list. We study it virtually, and visit the site when needed.
We design the system
Solar, a smart generator controller that synchronizes solar with the generator (a DG-PV synchronizer), and a battery, which is optional and recommended.
Sun by day, battery in the evening
The generator only fills the gap.
Runs completely off the grid: the battery covers the night, and an optional generator covers any shortfall.
- By day: solar runs your business and charges the battery
- In the evening: the battery runs your business
Why we recommend a battery
A generator should run above roughly a third of its rated load; below that it wastes fuel and wears faster.
Without a battery, the controller has to hold solar back to protect the generator. With one, solar does far more of the work and the generator runs far less.
Moving later?
Leases end and projects move on. If you move, the system can be taken down and put back up at your next site. It's a paid service, done easily, and it makes more sense than paying for a load extension you leave behind.
Off-grid isn't offered for DEWA-connected sites in Dubai; it can be, for a site that isn't connected to DEWA, such as a remote site.
One load study shows what your site needs.
Off-grid solar FAQs
All 48 questions →Read next
- Battery Storage & BackupThe sun sets. Your power doesn't.
- Commercial & IndustrialBankable numbers your CFO can interrogate.
- How Long Does an Electricity Connection Take in the UAE?How long a new electricity connection takes in the UAE, what the charge is based on, and what a site can run on while it waits.
- Off-Grid Solar for a New Factory: A Worked ExampleA worked example, not a client project: how off-grid solar, a battery and an optional generator are designed for a new UAE factory waiting on its connection.
- Solar or a Diesel Generator: Which Costs Less to Run?Diesel power typically costs three to four times grid power in fuel alone. How solar compares for sites off the grid, and when to keep a generator for backup.