We have successfully installed off-grid PV systems for mobile and manufactured homes. However, mobile and modular homes are difficult to run off-grid unless they are well-planned and generally placed on permanent foundations. There are a few things that must be specifically addressed for a successful installation.

Two main obstacles must be addressed. The first is that nearly every standard mobile home has a forced-air furnace as a heating plant. Air doesn’t carry much heat, so it takes a fair bit of fan energy to move the heat around. This can be an unacceptably large winter load, especially in an inefficient older home. If you plan to use a mobile or modular home, install a woodstove or non-fan-forced LP space heaters for your primary means of heat. Expect to use the existing furnace sparingly or not at all.

The other issue is closely related. In order to be transportable, a mobile or modular home lacks heavy thermal mass to store heat. Especially if simply set up and skirted, the water lines are vulnerable to freezing, and the conventional approach of wrapping pipes with electric heat tape is best avoided. Plan a combination of freeze-tolerant water pipe from the ground to the home connection and exceptionally heavy insulation around this pipe.

As with conventional construction, the home's distribution wiring may use multiwire branch circuits. These may be recognized in the breaker panel as house wiring (Romex®) with three conductors - black, red, and white - in the same jacket, connected to two adjacent 115V AC circuit breakers. These circuits require special planning at the design stage.