Living off-grid – that is, living independently of the main grid, big power companies and big power bills – can seem very appealing when you consider ever-increasing electricity costs.

The primary type of energy storage device used in most modern off-grid solar power systems is the deep cycle battery. A deep cycle battery is designed to be deeply discharged over a long period unlike a car starter battery which is more suited to delivering short bursts of power such as that needed to crank over a cars starter motor.

A Solar regulator aka charge controller is used with a stand-alone or off-grid solar power system or in a hybrid grid connect system with batteries, in a grid-connect solar power system with no batteries there is no need for a charge controller.

Off-grid power systems are usually installed in locations that have no access to a larger public power network. These types of systems are also referred to as "remote area power systems" (RAPS) or "stand-alone power systems" (SAPS) and most often consist of solar panels or wind turbines or a combination of both.