SOLAR BATTERY STORAGE

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Solar Batteries

Battery storage technology is changing the landscape for solar power users by increasing energy independence and self-generation capabilities.

Battery storage systems offer outstanding energy efficiency capabilities for residential and commercial buildings.

They provide access to stable, stored power, generated from PV solar in both residential and commercial settings and compensate for the intermittency of solar energy generation;

  • Reducing output variability
  • Improving power quality

By storing the power your PV solar system generates from the sun during the day, batteries enable you to access and use this power during the night or when solar energy generation is not optimal, an ‘as-needs’ basis.

Solar Energy Masters have many different options to choose from and our sales team will ensure you can confidently choose the most suitable system, for your PV solar.

Over the past few years, more and more home and business owners in Australia have turned toward solar energy.

Solar Power Charging Battery

Why is Solar Energy Storage Such a Hot Topic?

Solar energy systems have become significantly more accessible over the past few years. Batteries allow owners to store fuel reserves so that they could potentially live ‘off grid’. However, the introduction of solar cells has not been without some debate.

Lifespan 

Many manufacturers guarantee their lithium-ion solar storage batteries to last for at least two decades. The problem, however, is the fact that cells haven’t been around long enough to know if this is the case. If you’re investing in your batteries, you’ll want them to last this long so that you can maximize your return.
Fortunately, your service provider can help ensure that your products last for years. For instance, at Solar Energy Masters, we only install Tier 1 products.

We make sure that our customers receive solar batteries that are:

  • Durable
  • Reliable
  • Of the highest quality

We choose the manufacturers who we work with carefully. We only work with manufacturers who have invested heavily in research and development. Additionally, we install onboard diagnostics into our battery systems. If there’s an issue with your battery, we’ll dispatch a technician to your home or office immediately.
We seek to provide customers with peace of mind in their solar energy storage solutions. Customers won’t have to worry about their batteries failing in the immediate future. We offer the maintenance and care necessary to ensure you receive an excellent return on investment. 

Lastly, many manufacturers now offer warranties of at least 10,000 cycles on their batteries. However, if you’re using solar panels, the battery storage should only serve as a backup. You likely won’t use it every day.
If you were to use it every day, you’d find that you’d receive more than 27 years’ worth of cycles, assuming you used one period per day. Battery research and development is a fast growing area with constant improvements to the technology. 

Memory Effect 

One of the common misconceptions about solar batteries is that they suffer from the “memory effect.” You may have heard this come into play with your cell phone.

A few years ago, when you first took a cell phone out of the box, you were likely instructed to charge it thoroughly and then let it deplete to zero percent. You then charged it fully again, repeating the process. ​

Battery Icon

The reason for doing this was the belief that lithium-ion batteries had a “memory.”You had to train the battery how to charge. Lithium-ion designs have come a long way since then, however. Memory is no longer a concern.

If you do not drain your solar storage battery entirely, it’s not going to lose any longevity. You do not need to cycle your battery.

Today’s customers can use energy from the battery as needed. When they deplete reserves, they can recharge the battery, only having to replace the amount that they used previously. Today’s cells also have a lower self-discharge, meaning that customers won’t suffer from unanticipated drainage.

How to Compare Solar Storage Options

If you’re interested in adding a battery to your solar energy system, there are four primary criteria you’ll want to consider to help make your decision.

Compare Battery Options

Capacity

When comparing solar battery storage options, you’ll likely find two storage capacity figures. The first is the Usable Storage Capacity, measured in kilowatts per hour. This figure represents how much energy in your system is usable. 

The other figure that you’ll see is the nominal storage capacity, or the total storage capacity available in the battery. This figure is not nearly as relevant as usable storage capacity since the usable storage capacity is the amount of energy that you’ll have access to.

Depth of Discharge

The depth of discharge is the percentage of the battery that you can use. For instance, imagine you find a solar cell that has a total storage capacity of 1.2 kWh. However, the depth of discharge for the battery is 95 percent, meaning that the usable storage capacity is 1.1 kWh.

Average Battery Life

The depth of discharge is a bit different from the average battery life measurement. Battery power is more of a representation of how fast you can charge and discharge the battery. On average, low power battery systems take approximately four hours to burn through their usable energy. 

On the other hand, high-power batteries can use reserves in less than an hour.

There are pros and cons to both low power batteries and high-power batteries. Determining which is best for your household ultimately depends on your energy usage. Our technicians will work with you to decide which battery would be best.

Warranty

The last but not least thing you’ll want to consider is the warranty that you’ll receive on your product. Some manufacturers offer warranties in years, while others do so in battery cycles. Others will offer a hybrid of the two, such as, “A 10,000 Cycle, 20-Year Warranty – whichever comes first.”

If you don’t plan on using the battery frequently, it could be in your best interest to look for a warranty with high cycles. If you plan on cycling through your battery life often, you may be better off looking for a guarantee based on years.

Regardless, today’s battery warranties help ensure that you’ll receive an excellent return on investment.
Another thing to consider when looking at warranties is what they cover. Not all warranties cover the entire unit. Some manufacturers break their warranties down by part. For instance, one company may offer a 20-year warranty on the battery itself but only provide a ten-year guarantee on one of the components, such as the internal inverter.

How Much do Solar Batteries Cost in 2019?

The cost of solar batteries depends on numerous criteria, one of the most important being how much energy you use in a day. The more you use the battery reserves, the more likely it is that the system will pay for itself. We’ll start by providing an estimate of how much a warranted kilowatt-hour of stored electricity would cost if you cycled the battery once per day.
The other thing you’ll have to determine when evaluating the cost of your system is what comes with its purchase. For instance, some systems come with only the battery. You’ll likely need to purchase a battery inverter or solar inverter for the unit to work correctly.

Other models may come with the battery inverter included, causing you only to need to purchase the solar inverter. You could also find an all-in-one unit, where the price you see is what you get.

Your Location is a Factor

The cost of your battery will also likely depend on where you live. Specific areas of Australia receive more sunlight than others. 

Additionally, you’ll want to consider the cost of purchasing energy off the grid from your service provider and how much that provider will pay you if you sell energy reserves back to them. For instance, consider the following figures for popular cities in Australia. 

The figures below are as of April 2019. The first figure is the consumption charge, in dollars per kilowatt-hour. The second is the daily usage charge.

LOCATION CONSUMPTION $ / kWhr DAILY USAGE CHARGE
Adelaide 34c $0.91
Brisbane 21c $1.21
Canberra 19c $1.20
Darwin 26c $0.51
Hobart 26c $0.87
Melbourne 21c $0.64
Perth 27c $0.95
Sydney 25c $0.87
National Grid

Cost of the Battery Versus Selling Power Back to the Grid

When determining the cost of battery power, you’ll need to consider the cost of being on the grid versus the cost of using solar battery storage. Imagine you chose not to have a battery storage option at all. During the day, you’d use your solar panels to supply your home or business. However, at night, you’d use energy from the grid for power. 

The reason for this is because, without a battery, you’d have no way to store excess power. Furthermore, consider the fact that you likely aren’t home much during the day and probably won’t need to use your solar panels as often. Any power that your solar panels collect during the day will go back to the grid, and you’ll receive a credit. 

However, the amount you receive in credit pales in comparison to the cost of electricity from the grid that you’ll use at night. In this case, the solar panels would act as a subsidy that could help cut your electric bill. Solar panels tend to pay for themselves within a few years. 

An excellent way to determine whether the cost of the battery is worth it is to figure out how much electricity you used from the grid in the past year. This figure is assuming that you don’t already have solar panels in place.

Figure out how much you’d receive in credit if you sell power back to the grid. Multiply this figure by the amount of electricity you used to determine the annual expected cost.

Then, take your annual expected cost and multiply it by ten years. This figure does not account for things such as an increase in rates or an increase in how much electricity you use. If this figure is higher than the cost of a solar battery, then the battery could be in your best interest.

Your cost savings would mean that the battery would pay for itself and that you’d save money, even if you were selling power back to the grid.

When you purchase solar battery storage, you’ll want to make sure that you have enough power to fuel your home at night. The goal of buying a solar battery is to avoid having to purchase power from the grid at a premium rate. Additionally, you could also sell excess energy back to the network when your battery is at full capacity, resulting in a credit that goes directly to your wallet.

What if I Move?

One of the other concerns when factoring in the cost of a solar battery system is if you move. Many people say that they don’t want to have to commit to living in the same home for another decade.

It is technically feasible to take your solar panels with you when you move, although you’ll likely find that the labor and permitting costs make it much more worth it to install a new system in your home.

The cost of your existing system should increase the value of your home. If you can explain to potential homeowners that they can expect to save thousands of dollars over the next few years, they may be more willing to allocate these costs to the purchase price of the home.

Higher closing costs would potentially result in money back in your pocket, helping to offset the value of the old system.

Is It Better to Have Battery Storage?

Every case must be dealt with separately and assessed properly, our experts can guide you in making a well informed decision on this. Contact us and we’ll be delighted to assist you.

A low battery storage unit could be helpful in cases of power outages or when your solar panels don’t charge at full capacity. Having energy reserves helps prevent you from having to pay a premium rate.

However, determining whether solar power is worth it comes down to how much energy you use. If you are home during the day and are not home at night, you may not find a battery worthwhile.

If you tend to leave for work during the day and come back at night, having a battery could help offset your costs considerably.

We recommend looking into how much power you typically use and comparing the costs of installing a solar panel system with a battery. Remember that the battery is optional and that installing solar panels could, in and of itself, grant you thousands of dollars in savings.

Solar systems can be a significant investment, so you’ll want to make sure that your investment is optimised. If you need help running your calculations, our team of experts are here to help. We have years of experience working on solar systems in Australia, both commercial and residential solar.

We’ll asses your current usage and costs. We’ll then analyse how much we expect production to increase or decrease in the future, and compare this to the costs of solar panels and battery solutions.

Our goal is to ensure your satisfaction by delivering the optimal system to match your power needs.

What Size Batteries Do I Need to Become Independent From the Grid?

The answers depend heavily on how much power you use and how much electricity costs in your current area.

Again, our team is here to help you reach this conclusion. Our advanced software and highly trained staff will be able to assess your needs and determine the appropriate system. We will determine whether it’s in your best interest to go off the grid entirely, and the expected costs associated with doing so.

We’ll provide you with numbers such as your expected breakeven point and how much money you could expect to save in the long run by doing so.

What are the Different Types of Solar Batteries? 

There are two primary differences between solar batteries. Batteries typically fall into the category of being either AC-coupled or DC-coupled.

AC-Coupled

AC-coupled batteries rely on an inverter to convert your power. The power travels from your solar panels to a standard grid connected inverter, which changes the current from AC to DC. The battery then stores the DC power in its reserves. When your house needs power, the cell will convert the energy back to AC power. It seems as though the industry is trending toward AC-coupled. Many cells now connect to solar systems that already have converters built in, which reduces the cost of having to purchase n inverter.

DC-Coupled

DC-coupled batteries don’t require an intensive conversion. The power that your solar panels pull goes into the cell directly, first passing through a solar battery charger. This charger helps regulate how your batteries charge.

Summary

If you’ve decided to turn toward solar panels, one of the questions should be whether you should purchase battery storage as well. The decision to move to solar power is easy, as the cost-savings are rather clear-cut. However, the decision to move toward battery storage requires further investigation.

Numerous factors can help determine whether solar battery power is in your best interest. For many Australia residents, batteries could be worthwhile because of the cost savings. Cells are a significant investment though, so you’ll want to make sure that you crunch the numbers to ensure you’re going to receive a return on your investment.

Solar Energy Masters have the experience and expertise to assess the power needs of your business or home and assist you in making a decision on the benefits and value of using battery storage in your solar energy system.

Are Solar Batteries Worth it For You?

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