A solar battery allows you to store the energy you don’t consume and use it when you really need it. Solar Batteries work by storing the excess energy that’s generated by your solar panels. This allows you to utilise all of the electricity created and maximise the amount of savings you get.
Capacity is the amount of energy in kWh (units) that a battery can store. Batteries should never be drained completely. However, some are misleadingly sold quoting ‘total’ capacity. Check what’s being stated. ‘Useable capacity’ is the figure you need to know.
A cycle is one complete discharge and one complete charge. In reality it doesn’t happen like that. A battery may only discharge 25%, then recharge 25%. This would be 1/4 of a cycle. So you need to know how many cycles a battery is warrantied for.
There are two main types available, Lead Acid and Lithium. Lead Acid is very cheap to install but it’s inefficient and won’t last for long. So for this reason Lead Acid has all but disappeared from the Solar Storage market. Though the price of Lithium is higher, it’s much better value.
Some battery storage systems only deliver 800w (watts) of power. No good if you want a cup of tea (your kettle needs 2000 watts). Likewise, if you’re generating 4kW but the battery can only take on 3kW then 1kW will be heading to the grid, wasting your precious free energy.
Checking the price/kWh of storage capacity is fair and accurate way to compare different systems. What’s the right number of kWh for your property? That depends on you. The more kWhsyou have, the more you can reduce your bills and take advantage of ‘Time of Use’ tariffs
Most systems are designed just for storage. However, some offer backup capability to provide power when there’s a powercut.
If backup is essential, let us know and we’ll design some bespoke solutions for you to choose from.
It is easy to find how much you could save with our range of renewable energy solutions.
Get in touch and get a free quotation today.
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