Planning resource · Version 1.0
Off-Grid Readiness Checklist
Use this before selecting equipment. It is a conversation starter and gap detector—not a site design, permit set or substitute for qualified local professionals.
Safety and legal notice: Codes, permits, land-use rules, water rights, utility requirements and fire regulations vary by location. Electrical, battery, fuel, structural, well, septic and water-treatment systems can cause death, fire, contamination or major property loss if improperly designed or installed. Consult licensed professionals and your local authority having jurisdiction.
1. Purpose, people and constraints
- Define full-time, part-time, emergency or recreational use.
- List occupants, guests, pets, livestock and accessibility needs.
- Document parcel boundaries, easements, zoning and allowed uses.
- Confirm permit requirements and authority having jurisdiction.
- Record elevation, seasonal temperatures, wind, snow, dust and wildfire exposure.
- Set a realistic capital budget and annual maintenance reserve.
2. Site and access
- Map year-round vehicle and emergency-service access.
- Identify drainage, flood, erosion, slope and unstable-soil risks.
- Document solar exposure by season and likely shading growth.
- Plan defensible space and safe equipment clearances.
- Identify delivery, lifting and equipment-replacement routes.
- Confirm secure, weather-protected storage for spares and tools.
3. Electrical demand
- Inventory every load: watts, startup surge, hours/day and season.
- Separate critical, discretionary and deferrable loads.
- Calculate daily energy use in watt-hours—not only peak watts.
- Set required autonomy for poor weather and equipment downtime.
- Model worst-season solar production, not annual averages.
- Include conversion losses, battery limits and future degradation.
- Define backup generation, fuel storage and safe transfer method.
- Plan grounding, bonding, overcurrent protection and disconnects with a qualified professional.
- Define commissioning tests and monitoring points before purchase.
4. Water
- Confirm lawful source and seasonal yield.
- Measure realistic daily demand and peak flow.
- Size raw and treated storage for outages, weather and fire planning.
- Test source water through an appropriate certified laboratory.
- Design treatment from test results—not appearance or taste.
- Plan pump power, pressure, dry-run protection and spare parts.
- Address freezing, heat, UV exposure, overflow and drainage.
- Create a sampling, filter-change and tank-cleaning schedule.
5. Sanitation and waste
- Confirm septic, composting-toilet and greywater legality locally.
- Size systems for occupancy and soil/site conditions.
- Plan safe solid waste, hazardous waste and battery disposal.
- Keep sanitation systems separated from drinking-water sources.
- Document pump-out, service and emergency procedures.
6. Communications and monitoring
- Survey cellular and fixed-wireless service at the actual site.
- Define primary and independent backup communications.
- Plan local networking, power backup and weather protection.
- Monitor power, water levels, leaks, temperature and critical faults.
- Ensure essential functions still work during internet/cloud outages.
- Document remote-access security, updates and recovery credentials.
7. Safety and emergency readiness
- Write fire, medical, evacuation and shelter-in-place plans.
- Post location coordinates, access instructions and emergency contacts.
- Install correctly rated detection and suppression equipment.
- Plan safe battery, generator and fuel locations and ventilation.
- Maintain first-aid supplies appropriate to distance from care.
- Define check-in procedures for lone work and severe weather.
- Back up critical documents, maps, keys and credentials.
8. Security
- Prioritize gates, lighting, visibility and physical hardening.
- Map camera coverage while respecting neighbors and applicable law.
- Use local recording and backup power for critical coverage.
- Define alert escalation and who is authorized to respond.
- Set retention, access and privacy rules for recordings.
- Test the system during internet and utility failures.
9. Maintenance and failure modes
- List single points of failure in power, water, access and communications.
- Keep model numbers, manuals, diagrams and configuration backups.
- Stock critical fuses, filters, connectors, fluids and wear parts.
- Set daily, monthly, seasonal and annual inspection routines.
- Budget for battery, pump, inverter and generator replacement.
- Teach another person how to safely shut down and recover systems.
10. Purchase gate
- Write the problem and acceptance criteria before choosing a product.
- Verify specifications against the real load, climate and duty cycle.
- Check warranty exclusions, service access and replacement lead time.
- Confirm compatibility with the complete system.
- Record total installed cost, including protection, wire, fittings and labor.
- Prefer repairable, documented products where practical.
- Commission and document the result before calling the project complete.
Next: Take the completed checklist to the appropriate local professionals. Offgrid Advanced will publish deeper worksheets for electrical loads, water storage, communications and maintenance as they are field-tested.