NIXIES STORY - OFFGRID NOW® In a Tiny Home, Doonan, QLD
Nixies dog greets me quietly as I open my car door; Nixie jokes as its guarding style is more cuddle, than alarm.
Nixie’s place is a quiet, tucked‑away spot in Doonan on the Sunshine Coast, QLD. A long dirt driveway through trees opens up to a tiny home that looks out over a large lake and grassy fields. Nixie has called this private patch of someone else’s property home for nearly three years. She’s completely off‑grid, raising her son and caring for a dog and two cats. Perched at the edge of her little place is the heart of her setup: an OFFGRID NOW® EXCELSO 5.10 power cabinet with a DEYE 5kW inverter and roughly 10.24kWh of storage, paired with a ground‑mounted solar array and a 6kW generator for backup.
What tipped Nixie into off‑grid living was a clear desire for independence. “I think just the financial freedom,” she tells me. “It was quite a big upfront cost but then you’re done, you don’t have that three‑monthly bill coming in. I also liked being responsible for my own energy and water consumption. That really appealed to me.” For her, off‑grid living was as much about self‑reliance and simplicity as it was about money.
Nixies OFFGRID NOW® Excelso cabinet
Nixie found OFFGRID NOW® while searching for solar options on the Sunny Coast. “I specifically did not want a solar trailer. I wanted the solar panels seated on the ground and Mark was the only one happy to suss that out,” she says. OFFGRID NOW® helped design and build the ground array frame. A practical fix since Nixie’s tiny home has a big skylight and little room on the roof for panels.
Nixies ground mount solar array
Nixie organises her day around sunlight. With a 10kWh battery, Nixie needs to be cooking and running big appliances during the day and says adapting to off‑grid life meant making massive changes. “You don’t put the oven on at 7 o’clock at night. I do a lot of bulk cooking. When the sun is out I just put everything on. It’s mainly the oven that sucks the power. I cook when the sun is out.” Shorter showers, tighter planning and being mindful about when heavy appliances run have become normal. Her household gear is a mix designed for low‑impact living: instant gas hot water, a mini oven, Thermomix and induction cooktop, a fridge, clothes dryer and two air‑cons units.
Solar serves her well most of the time. Even on cloudy days the system can still charge but she keeps a 6kW generator for those rare stretches when the panels struggle. “It’s more so the super hot days where it’s three days in a row of over 30 degrees where the solar really struggles or just the torrential rain,” she explains. Since having her son, the generator has moved from optional to essential. “Before, my son and I used to just not cook. But obviously now I just have to be a bit more like, OK the rain is coming, let’s make sure the generator is sorted.”
Off Grid Now’s support has made a difference. Early on, heavy rain caused water to get into an unsealed electrical box and Nixie rang for help. “Even though it wasn’t their fault, they were still willing to assist me and talk me through it,” she says. They also helped with the ground array build and are quick to assist when she has questions about the Off Grid Now app. That ongoing support, people who guide you over the phone and can come out if needed is crucial when storms or faults affect your power.
Living off‑grid, raising a child and animals, and weathering floods has made Nixie strong and capable. “We get flooded all the time, I can be stuck here for three days. It’s fine when you are on your own but the minute you put a kid in your life, you don’t want to be in those situations,” she says. That reality is part of why she’s considering moving in the near future. The lifestyle suits her, but family needs and safety are pushing her to rethink location and setup.
Has the battery been worth it? “Yeah, one hundred percent. It’s going to last for ages. I’m even tempted to take it away with me,” Nixie laughs. That’s a strong vote of confidence: the battery gives her the independence she wanted and the reliability she needs, especially now that a child is part of her household.
Her advice to anyone thinking about going off‑grid is: “Be really careful where you put your house.” She’s half joking but serious about the point. Solar works best with reliable sun. “Solar is great if you are getting six or seven hours of sun every day” and panel placement matters. She had the option of a solar trailer but chose a ground array for cost efficiency and because she preferred the look.
The battery cabinet sits tucked to the side of the home. “I actually don’t like having it so close. If it was my land I would probably build a shed and put it away from the house as it buzzes. I just don’t like electrics that are close to me while I’m sleeping,” she admits. It’s a candid detail that highlights the trade‑offs of living small and off the grid.
Nixie’s story is a clear example of how off‑grid technology can open up a different way of life: quieter, more intentional and financially predictable. It’s not without trade‑offs - planning, prepping for weather, and occasionally hauling out the generator- but with the right system and support, it can be a sustainable fit, even for a tiny home raising a child. For Nixie, the EXCELSO 6.20 cabinet and the local know‑how from Off Grid Now have been a reliable backbone to that life. She’s proud she made the leap, practical about what it demands, and already planning her next move with the same clear, no‑nonsense approach that got her here.
