Solar Batteries and Storage

Batteries – the future is now!

Solar Batteries & Energy Storage

Battery storage has been used for decades with stand-alone and off-grid power systems.

But it is set to grow exponentially in popularity for grid-connected solar systems as well.

For commercial premises, batteries are an effective means of not only reducing total electricity consumption but also for ‘peak shaving’. The electricity tariffs for large commercial customers often have extremely high demand charges where spikes in electricity usage increase the electricity cost for the entire billing period.

A well-designed battery system can be very effective at reducing peak demand charges.

Batteries Are Not New!

They have been used for decades in off–grid solar power systems. What is relatively new, is the use of batteries with grid–connected solar power systems, to create what is known as a“Hybrid solar power system”.

Hybrid meaning solar and batteries. In hybrid systems, batteries are used to store energy for use at night time, during periods of peak load or unusually high usage and inclement weather.

Batteries can significantly reduce the reliance on the electricity grid and minimize that amount of electricity purchased from the electricity retailer (e.g: Ergon, Origin, AGL etc…).

We typically advise homeowners in built–up and residential areas, to remain connected to the grid as their ’emergency’ power supply even with batteries installed. The alternative to staying connected to the grid is to use a generator as the emergency power supply which may not be conducive to good neighbourly relationships.

Did you know that not all batteries can supply power in a black–out? If that is something that is important to you, make sure you mention it to your designer so provisions can be made and the appropriate products recommended.

Sizing and pricing battery systems for both hybrid and off–grid solar power systems are quite complex and there is certainly no one-size-fits-all solution. Batteries are expensive, and designing battery systems is a fine art of making sure they are large enough to do the job, but not too large to keep costs to a reasonable level.

Call our office on 07 46372744 to find out more about batteries and hybrid solar power systems.

Suitable Batteries

There are many batteries suitable for both residential and commercial applications including LG, Sonnen and Redback, depending on the size required.

Batteries can generally be added to an existing solar power system, the amount of work required and cost involved depending upon the equipment currently installed.

There are many different types of batteries.

Two of the most common and well known are the traditional Lead Acid and the newer technology Lithium-Ion batteries.

What’s The Difference?

Lead Acid batteries are traditionally used for off-grid solar power systems as they are more cost-effective than Lithium-Ion batteries. The trade-off is that they are generally big and heavy and take up a significant amount of space. Wet cell Lead Acid batteries require stringent regular maintenance which can be onerous. Lead Acid batteries are considered to be safer than Lithium-Ion.

Lithium-Ion batteries are rapidly gaining popularity as they have a great advantage of being much lighter and smaller in comparison to Lead Acid batteries. The trade-off is in the pricing where Lithium-Ion is more expensive.