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Abstract
Residential solar energy is typically a direct-current (DC) to alternating-current photovoltaic system, connected to a utility grid for backup. In contrast, an off-grid DC-only community-scaled photovoltaic array and battery bank is proposed to ameliorate environmental concerns and to reduce utility infrastructure costs through decentralized energy production. Electric demand and supply models were used to design a community-scale-generation concept and test its feasibility. Results show that a community of up to 83 family homes could exist independently from the utility grid when powered by a 1-acre single-axis solar tracking array combined, albeit with a high battery requirement of over 8600 kWh, likely necessitating supplementary power generation. The non-linear relationship between community- and required battery-size was examined and several avenues for model development were explored, including applying the model to wide geographic contexts and improving resilience by incorporating supplementary generation as a combined heating and power plant.