Should I get batteries with my solar?

Battery Systems
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A very frequently asked question. Usually the answer is “no”.

On a side note, if you’re replacing your gas guzzler with an electric car (EV) on the other hand, you could kill two birds with one stone. EVs have got a huge battery which can be used to store your solar, and use it in your own home, or export it in times of demand. On average cars sit idle 95% of the time, so the rest of the time their batteries can be used to even out intermittent renewable energy sources.

Firstly, what are the reasons for wanting batteries? Most commonly they are:

  • Use more of your own solar (for financial benefit)
  • Use more of your own solar (for environmental benefit)
  • Independence from the grid, and electricity retailers
  • Energy storage in case of black out

Batteries don’t really offer good solutions to any of these reasons usually, except for the last in some cases.

1. Use more of your own solar (for financial benefit)
Unfortunately, when you crunch the numbers, getting batteries doesn’t usually add up financially. It may at some point in the future for some people, but for now you’re usually better off getting solar on its own. This is dependent on the feed-in-tariff (FIT) you can get in your particular area, but generally a FIT is enough to make selling the power to the grid a better financial decision than buying a battery to store the solar.

2. Use more of your own solar (for environmental benefit)
This one doesn’t add up as long as there is demand for renewables when it is produced. Batteries are unnecessary (and have their own built in carbon footprint) when you can simply put your excess solar into the grid, and buy energy when you need it. The grid is a very efficient way of distributing energy and meeting supply and demand. Although a caveat to that is that grid operators do need battery storage to help even out the intermittent nature of renewables in some areas - in which case the carbon cost of producing, transporting and disposing of the solar panels + battery storage is likely to still be considerably less than the fossil fuel equivalent.

3. Independence from the grid, and electricity retailers
The issue with this one can get a bit technical, but in short you need a huge amount of batteries to be ”off-grid”. There’s a big difference between having a small battery bank in order to use the energy your solar systems produced during the day, at night, than having enough energy storage to last you through 3-4 low sun days in the depths of winter. The cost of going fully off grid is usually astronomical, and requires a lot of changes to how you use power. The only time it makes sense is if you don’t have access to a grid.

Also, as per above, I’m not really a believer in this reason. I think we should support the grid, it’s really quite efficient. If we need to add storage to the grid to support renewables, by all means, but I think that is far preferable to every house being a micro grid - which is incredibly inefficient.

4. Energy storage in case of black out
This one is the only one that regularly adds up, but only if you are in an area with a crappy grid, or you are running a business and really can’t afford to be in candle lights or have the fridge off for a couple of hours.

Here’s some further reading which might help clear up some other questions.

Hope that helps.

Cheers
Marty

5 Likes
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If you want to avoid SmartMeters and/or the overcharging of electrical usage by Utility companies by these Smartmeters, then off-grid is a solution to the problem, and batteries are a must. Expect to pay an additional $20k for the battery banks required to run your home. You will need gas furnace for heating though because an electric one will drain your batteries fast. Average house usage is 1500-1800 kWh a month, so size you solar array for such. About 60 panels (depending on watts per panel), inverters that can chain together to you AMP required,etc… In our area most electric bills have gone up by 50%. We have all heard the lame excuses why that occurred. All lies. Your old meter was more accurate then the Smartmeter. Why? because the old meter was tested and pre-set, the Smartmeter can be calibrated on the fly, via the net whenever they want. And it will not be to your benefit, guaranteed.

Iam off grid, and love the challenge.

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Hey Marty, just the answers I was looking for. I have some additional questions though.

  1. I was told by an electric vehicle conversion company when asking about using the battery for home power storage that it’s dangerous and car batteries are not made for this purpose. Are you referring to new electric vehicles or do you have more information about this as it’s a brilliant solution if possible.

  2. Do you have any articles that explain exactly how community solar works and how this aids with power security?

Thanks,
Simone

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When it comes to solar batteries, you’ll get a significant economic benefit for your home in certain situations, even though their price tag is considered. What solar batteries can and can’t do for your home.

The best use of installing a solar battery with your home solar power system is to actually store the extra energy your solar panels produce at home instead of feeding it back into the electricity grid. This battery also helps in maximizing your ability to use the electricity generated by your solar panels on daily basis and when you need more electricity than your solar panels are producing, you can use this stored solar energy, during the times at night or later in the day.

One more point to be considered here is whether or not you’ll save more money by installing a solar-plus-storage system; it’ll depend up on how your electric utility charges its customers. Net metering is also a good choice through which you could receive a credit on your utility bill for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of solar energy that you send back to the grid. You can use those credits later on.

They can also provide backup power without producing greenhouse gas emission. They work best when they are connected to the electric grid, and should be thought of as a solar grid storage product.
Hope this helps.

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Do you need the batteries?

Adding batteries to your solar system can help you become independent from the central grid or your utility company. This is because batteries store excess energy produced by the panels during the day.

You may get batteries with your solar system if your utility doesn’t offer net metering. Also with batteries you can avoid pulling extra electricity from the grid when you need excess energy, or during the night time.

However, one should consider factors like electricity usage, feed-in tariffs, are there frequent power outages in your area, before switching to batteries.

A reliable installer can make the task easier for you, so that your switch to solar power is a smooth experience.

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If you are planning to pair your battery with your solar power system then you can consume the generated energy for a whole day or more than a day.

If you are living in an area where plenty of sunlight is incident on your solar rooftop system then adding solar batteries is of course the right decision as it will store the excess of energy generated by the system.

As mentioned in the above post an experienced installer will easily fix these batteries with your system.

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The price of battery are dropping faster than PV panels.

If saving money on electricity is the primary goal then just solar panels are fine. If you also want resilience then adding a secondary or tertiary energy source is important.

If the Grid goes down your solar shuts down to avoid back feed to power lines.

Solar + Battery forms a micro grid and your system disconnects from the Grid and islands.

We are on the cusp of new battery chemistry than will double the density of todays products. Todays ESS pricing is price inflated.