Whether you’re just beginning your solar journey or you already have a complete system, now is the perfect time to consider adding solar battery storage. From lower bills to independence from utility companies – there are many benefits of solar batteries. Let’s have a better look.
Yes, solar batteries are not exactly cheap. However, they’re an incredible long-term investment that pays off times fold.
Over time, you’ll see the savings add up on your electric bill — beyond what you would save with solar panels alone. Here are three ways that you can accrue cost savings with battery storage.
If you have solar panels, but no battery storage, excess energy from your system will feed back into the electric grid. Many utility companies will give you credit for this energy, which is called net metering.
But other utility companies actually charge a fee for net metering or don’t give you any credit for backfed energy. If you can store the excess energy in a battery system instead of sending it back to the grid, you’ll save more in the long run in these situations.
California’s new NEM 3.0 net billing rules effective April, 2023 are a prime example of a utility billing rate that works better if you install solar with an energy storage system.
A solar battery system can increase your electric bill savings if you are on a time-of-use (TOU) utility rate. Under TOU rates, the charge for using electricity at “peak” times is higher (typically in the evening from 4 to 9 PM, but this can vary).
With a solar battery system, you can store excess energy during off-peak hours and use that energy during peak times to avoid paying higher rates.
Some commercial utility providers implement demand charges, based on the largest amount of power you draw at any one time. You can program a solar battery system to provide power when you have higher demand to reduce your demand charges.
Another key benefit of solar battery storage is energy independence. As power outages become more common, having backup power is critical.
While solar batteries won’t run everything in your home, they can certainly provide relief during brief power outages, allowing you to feel more comfortable and have peace of mind during emergencies, storms or even earthquakes.
Important Tip: Calculate how much solar battery backup do you need. You don’t necessarily need solar battery storage for your entire home. Partial battery backup is an option too!
Usually, when we think about power backup, generators is the first solution that comes to our mind. However, compared to generators, solar battery systems, once installed, up and running, require very little maintenance.
First of all, generators require fuel. If you don’t have enough fuel stored, you may find yourself in a pickle because gas stations can’t pump fuel if the power is out.
On the other hand, solar batteries offer a hassle-free alternative. They “re-fuel” themselves with solar energy, so you don’t have to worry about your reserves.
Generators are also notoriously noisy. And solar batteries are about as loud as a humming refrigerator. With a battery system, you can still have backup power that won’t disrupt your daily activities or sleep.
In addition to being noise-friendly, solar batteries are also environment-friendly. Unlike generators, they don’t require using fossil fuels that produce polluting gas emissions.
Since solar battery systems obtain power from the sun, you won’t have to worry about creating more waste or increasing your carbon footprint any further. By using renewable energy, you'll be contributing to a cleaner and more sustainable planet.
Your solar battery storage system will last a long time. Newer lithium battery systems, such as the Enphase Encharge, are warrantied to last for at least ten years or 4,000 cycles, while generators typically have 3 to 5-year warranties.
If you install batteries with your solar power system, you’ll get to take advantage of tax credits and rebates that apply to solar installations. Through 2032, the federal tax credit for complete solar installations is 30%. So if you’re thinking about installing solar on your home this year, definitely consider adding battery backup simultaneously. Or even if you are adding energy storage to an existing solar power system, you’ll still qualify for the credit.
In addition to federal tax credits, you may also be eligible for additional credits, rebates or other incentives in your local area that can apply to the solar battery system.
Installing solar panels along with a solar battery system could increase the value of your home or business. Property buyers see the value in clean energy and backup power that offers assurance and peace of mind.
Read more: The Best Solar Battery Backup Systems for 2023
The benefits of solar batteries are clear, and the demand for battery backup is only rising from here.
"Adoption is increasing," says Alex Lepore from Fortress Power, a solar energy storage manufacturer. "More people now trust the technology. It's likely that by the end of this decade — 2030 — the battery space is going to grow almost six or seven times over."
If you have the budget, and your energy usage could benefit from storing excess power, we definitely recommend adding solar battery backup to your system.
If you’re looking for more guidance on solar batteries, look no further than the industry experts at GoGreenSolar! Our solar veterans are readily available to help you through the decision, purchase and installation processes. Check out our solar battery backup systems, or reach out to us with your questions today.
A solar battery can be an important addition to your solar power system. It helps you store excess electricity that you can use when your solar panels aren't generating enough energy, and gives you more options for how to power your home.
If you’re looking for the answer to, “How do solar batteries work?”, this article will explain what a solar battery is, solar battery science, how solar batteries work with a solar power system, and the overall benefits of using solar battery storage.
Let’s start with a simple answer to the question, “What is a solar battery?”:
A solar battery is a device that you can add to your solar power system to store the excess electricity generated by your solar panels.
You can then use that stored energy to power your home at times when your solar panels don't generate enough electricity, including nights, cloudy days, and during power outages.
The point of a solar battery is to help you use more of the solar energy you’re creating. If you don't have battery storage, any excess electricity from solar power goes to the grid, which means you're generating power and providing it to other people without taking full advantage of the electricity your panels create first.
For more information, check out our Solar Battery Guide: Benefits, Features, and Cost
Lithium-ion batteries are the most popular form of solar batteries currently on the market. This is the same technology used for smartphones and other high-tech batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries work through a chemical reaction that stores chemical energy before converting it to electrical energy. The reaction occurs when lithium ions release free electrons, and those electrons flow from the negatively-charged anode to the positively-charged cathode.
This movement is encouraged and enhanced by lithium-salt electrolyte, a liquid inside the battery that balances the reaction by providing the necessary positive ions. This flow of free electrons creates the current necessary for people to use electricity.
When you draw electricity from the battery, the lithium ions flow back across the electrolyte to the positive electrode. At the same time, electrons move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode via the outer circuit, powering the plugged-in device.
Home solar power storage batteries combine multiple ion battery cells with sophisticated electronics that regulate the performance and safety of the whole solar battery system. Thus, solar batteries function as rechargeable batteries that use the power of the sun as the initial input that kickstarts the whole process of creating an electrical current.
When it comes to solar battery types, there are two common options: lithium-ion and lead-acid. Solar panel companies prefer lithium-ion batteries because they can store more energy, hold that energy longer than other batteries, and have a higher Depth of Discharge.
Also known as DoD, Depth of Discharge is the percentage to which a battery can be used, related to its total capacity. For example, if a battery has a DoD of 95%, it can safely use up to 95% of the battery’s capacity before it needs to be recharged.
As mentioned earlier, battery manufacturers prefer lithium-ion battery technology for its higher DoD, reliable lifespan, ability to hold more energy for longer, and a more compact size. However, because of these numerous benefits, lithium-ion batteries are also more expensive compared to lead-acid batteries.
Lead-acid batteries (the same technology as most car batteries) have been around for years, and have been used widely as in-home energy storage systems for off-grid power options. While they are still on the market at pocket-friendly prices, their popularity is fading due to low DoD and shorter lifespan.
Coupling refers to how your solar panels are wired to your battery storage system, and the options are either direct current (DC) coupling or alternating current (AC) coupling. The main difference between the two lies in the path taken by the electricity that the solar panels create.
Solar cells create DC electricity, and that DC electricity must be converted into AC electricity before it can be used by your home. However, solar batteries can only store DC electricity, so there are different ways of connecting a solar battery into your solar power system.
With DC coupling, the DC electricity created by solar panels flows through a charge controller and then directly into the solar battery. There is no current change before storage, and conversion from DC to AC only occurs when the battery sends electricity to your home, or back out into the grid.
A DC-coupled storage battery is more efficient, because the electricity only needs to change from DC to AC once. However, DC-coupled storage typically requires a more complex installation, which can increase the initial cost and lengthen the overall installation timeline.
With AC coupling, DC electricity generated by your solar panels goes through an inverter first to be converted into AC electricity for everyday use by appliances in your home. That AC current can also be sent to a separate inverter to be converted back to DC current for storage in the solar battery. When it’s time to use the stored energy, the electricity flows out of the battery and back into an inverter to be converted back into AC electricity for your home.
With AC-coupled storage, electricity is inverted three separate times: once when going from your solar panels into the house, another when going from the home into battery storage, and a third time when going from battery storage back into the house. Each inversion does result in some efficiency losses, so AC coupled storage is slightly less efficient than a DC coupled system.
Unlike DC-coupled storage that only stores energy from solar panels, one of the big advantages of AC coupled storage is that it can store energy from both solar panels and the grid. This means that even if your solar panels aren’t generating enough electricity to fully charge your battery, you can still fill the battery with electricity from the grid to provide you with backup power, or to take advantage of electricity rate arbitrage.
It’s also easier to upgrade your existing solar power system with AC-coupled battery storage, because it can just be added on top of an existing system design, instead of needing to be integrated into it. This makes AC coupled battery storage a more popular option for retrofit installations.
This entire process starts with the solar panels on the roof generating power. Here is a step-by-step breakdown of what happens with a DC-coupled system:
The process is slightly different with an AC-coupled system.
If you have a hybrid inverter, a single device can convert DC electricity into AC electricity and can also convert AC electricity into DC electricity. As a result, you don't need two inverters in your photovoltaic (PV) system: one to convert electricity from your solar panels (solar inverter) and another to convert electricity from the solar battery (battery inverter).
Also known as a battery-based inverter or hybrid grid-tied inverter, the hybrid inverter combines a battery inverter and solar inverter into a single piece of equipment. It eliminates the need to have two separate inverters in the same setup by functioning as an inverter for both the electricity from your solar battery and the electricity from your solar panels.
Hybrid inverters are growing in popularity because they work with and without battery storage. You can install a hybrid inverter into your battery-less solar power system during the initial installation, giving you the option of adding solar energy storage down the line.
Adding battery backup for solar panels is a great way of ensuring you get the most out of your solar power system. Here are some of the main benefits of a home solar battery storage system:
Your solar panel system can often produce more power than you need, especially on sunny days when no one is at home. If you don't have solar energy battery storage, the extra energy will be sent to the grid. If you participate in a net metering program, you can earn credit for that extra generation, but it’s usually not a 1:1 ratio for the electricity you generate.
With battery storage, the extra electricity charges up your battery for later use, instead of going to the grid. You can use the stored energy during times of lower generation, which reduces your reliance upon the grid for electricity.
Since your batteries can store the excess energy created by your solar panels, your home will have electricity available during power outages and other times when the grid goes down.
With solar panel battery storage, you can go green by making the most of the clean energy produced by your solar panel system. If that energy isn't stored, you will rely on the grid when your solar panels don’t generate enough for your needs. However, most grid electricity is produced using fossil fuels, so you will likely be running on dirty energy when drawing from the grid.
When the sun goes down and solar panels aren't generating electricity, the grid steps in to provide much-needed power if you don’t have any battery storage. With a solar battery, you’ll use more of your own solar electricity at night, giving you more energy independence and helping you keep your electric bill low.
A solar power battery is a 100% noiseless backup power storage option. You get to benefit from maintenance free clean energy, and don’t have to deal with the noise that comes from a gas-powered backup generator.
Understanding how a solar battery works is important if you’re thinking about adding solar panel energy storage to your solar power system. Because it operates like a large rechargeable battery for your home, you can take advantage of any excess solar energy your solar panels create, giving you more control over when and how you use solar energy.
Lithium-ion batteries are the most popular type of solar battery, and work through a chemical reaction that stores energy, and then releases it as electrical energy for use in your home. Whether you choose a DC-coupled, AC-coupled, or hybrid system, you may be able to increase the return on investment of your solar power system and reduce your reliance on the grid.
Having the right system design is vital to making the most of your solar panels. At Palmetto, we have the expertise and experience to guide you on your clean energy journey. From solar power installation and service to system maintenance and monitoring, our solar professionals are here to help you take advantage of clean energy.
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