The high cost and unreliability of electricity from the national grid have seen more consumers opt for solar energy. In countries where sunshine is abundant, clean and renewable solar energy can power all your home’s appliances. To maximize the capacity of your home’s solar energy system, invest in the best solar energy battery.
One downside of renewables is variability, which makes it difficult to rely on them as the only source of energy. Luckily, advanced solar energy battery technology now makes it possible to store a lot of energy for use when solar arrays can’t fulfill the demands of your home.
In this article, find out the importance of a solar energy storage system for your home and tips to choose the best.
Leveraging Solar Energy Storage
Solar intermittency is a big problem that hinders the adoption of this clean source of energy. Enovatek energy storage solutions solve this problem by storing excess electricity. You can use this energy later to power your home.
In traditional solar systems, consumers have to export the excess energy which they later buy at a higher price. You can gain energy security in your home with Enovatek energy storage solutions because any time there’s an outage or when the sun goes down, the batteries set in.
To get the best out of your solar arrays, consider investing in a high-capacity solar energy storage system. You get a backup reserve to cover your energy needs across the day. Any excess solar energy generated by your PV array goes into storage, and this means you always have cheaper and reliable electricity for your home.
Shopping for a Solar Energy Battery
Every home is unique and you have different energy needs. The number of solar arrays in your home is also different, and for these reasons, find a solar energy battery that suits your needs. Here are some factors to consider for the best solar energy battery:
Type of Battery
When choosing a solar energy battery, you have several options on the market including:
- Lead-acid batteries: These batteries have been around for some time and they’re common for off-grid energy systems in many countries. They’re the most affordable of the solar energy batteries available, but they also have a short life and they require a lot of maintenance.
- Saltwater batteries: This is a new technology in solar energy batteries relying on saltwater electrolytes instead of heavy metals. They’re easily recyclable and hence more eco-friendly. The technology isn’t fully tested and you might not get a warranty on such products.
- Lithium-ion (Li-ion): These are Safe rechargeable batteries and most home energy storage technologies now rely on this technology. They are more compact and require less maintenance compared to lead-acid batteries. While they cost more than lead-acid batteries, you also get a longer lifespan out of these batteries.
Capacity and Power
When you shop for a battery system for your solar system, consider the total amount of electricity the battery can store which is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Your solar installer helps you audit your system to determine whether you need a stackable battery storage system.
Power Rating
The battery capacity might tell you how big the system is, but this isn’t always the best factor to use. This unit doesn’t indicate how much energy the battery can discharge. The power rating comes in handy to make the right decision.
Battery rating is in Ampere Hours (Ah). The power rating has a discharge rate, (20 or 100 hours) specifying the amount of current in Amps that a solar energy battery can supply to your home over a specified number of hours.
A low power rating means the battery can only produce a low amount of power at a time, even if it has a high capacity. A low-capacity battery with high rating powers multiple appliances, but only for a short time. Talk to your installer to get a balance between these two factors to get the right solar energy storage for your home.
Depth of Charge
Solar energy batteries require the retention of some charge at all times. For long battery life, you can’t discharge most batteries beyond 70%. The depth of discharge (DoD) is the amount of a battery’s capacity you can use. The higher the DoD, the more the battery’s capacity you can utilize.
Efficiency
Round-trip efficiency refers to the amount of energy you can use from a solar energy battery in relation to the amount of energy used to store such energy. The higher the round-trip efficiency, the higher the more economic value out of your battery.
Battery Life Warranty
When shopping for a solar energy battery system, make sure you get a warranty from the manufacturer. The warranty specified the number of cycles and/or years of useful life.
Wrapping Up
Solar energy batteries help you harness the full power of your home’s solar energy system. By storing most of the energy generated by your PV arrays, you get independence from the grid and you save a lot of money.
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