Off grid
Off grid for good, or ready for a week without the grid.
People come to off-grid power from two directions. Some are planning a cabin, a homestead or a remote build and want to know whether solar and batteries beat paying for a power line. Others want their home ready for a long outage: power for the essentials, safe water and enough food.
Both start with the same honest sizing: what you need to run, for how long, in your worst month. The tools below do that for your state, then cover the water, filters, food and kit that matter when the power is out for days.
Off-grid solar and power
Size a system for winter, price it against a power line, and pick a kit.
- CalculatorOff-grid solar calculatorPanel watts and battery kWh for your state's December sun
- GuideHow to go off gridPower line cost per mile vs solar and battery, plus permits, well and septic
- PickerOff-grid cabin solar kitWeekend, part-time or full-time cabin, sized by state
- CalculatorGenerator runtime and fuelHours per tank and fuel to store, from your generator's spec sheet
Ready for an outage
Keep the essentials running and know how long you can last.
Water, food and your kit
How much to store, how to make water safe, and a checklist scaled to your household.
- CalculatorEmergency water storageGallons for 3 days or 2 weeks, and how many jugs that fills
- ComparisonEmergency water filtersRanked by actual certification, filter vs purifier
- GuideHow to purify waterBleach drops per gallon, boiling time at your elevation
- CalculatorEmergency food calculatorCalories, not servings, for your household
- ChecklistEmergency kit checklist72-hour and 2-week home kit, printable
Questions people ask
- How many solar panels and how much battery do I need to live off grid?
Answered in: Off-grid solar calculator
- Is it cheaper to run a power line or go solar?
Answered in: How to go off grid
- How much water should I store for an emergency?
Answered in: Water storage calculator
- How many drops of bleach purify a gallon of water?
Answered in: How to purify water
- What's the difference between a water filter and a purifier?
Answered in: Emergency water filters
- How much emergency food does a family need?
Answered in: Emergency food calculator
- How long will a generator run on a tank of gas?
Answered in: Generator runtime calculator
- What should be in a 72-hour emergency kit?
Answered in: Emergency kit checklist
More from Spark Powered
- Electric cars & e-bikesFree tools to pick a car, check it fits your driving, price home charging in your state and choose the right charger. No sign-up.
- Home energySolar, batteries, backup power and the everyday costs on your bill, worked out for your state. No sign-up, no sales calls.
- RV, boat & camping powerRun-time calculators and battery pickers for RVs, vans, boats, kayaks and campsites, using the makers' own power figures.
- LearnMyths, incentives, state-by-state data and the questions people search most, each answer tied to the agency or study it came from.
Photo: Devon MacKay on Unsplash (Unsplash License).