Choosing a Solar Battery for Your Home
Whilst being relatively new technology, solar batteries do have the ability to significantly reduce your reliance on fossil fuels. Savings of up to £300 a year can be achieved on a standard 4 Kw solar system. This will be suitable for a domestic property, whether you live in a bungalow or a larger property.
Why choose solar batteries?
Currently a typical solar PV system will send energy back to the grid at a decreased rate. This increases your reliance on the grid and can reduce your overall energy savings. By deciding to install a battery storage system you increase self-sufficiency up to almost 100% and significantly reduce the running costs of your solar system.
Battery systems can also be easily installed alongside existing solar systems with wall mounted and ground mounted versions available. The digital display available on most models will give you an idea of performance as well.
Types of solar batteries
There are two types of solar battery systems that can be installed currently. These include lithium acid and lithium ion batteries, which both differ in price and performance. Whilst lithium acid models may be typically a third of the cost of a lithium ion battery, a lithium ion battery is a much longer lasting and powerful. For instance, a lithium ion battery can discharge at a rate of 90% while a lithium acid battery can only discharge at roughly 50% of its capacity.
The truth is lithium-ion batteries generally have more energy , last longer and operate at a range of temperatures unlike other rechargeable batteries.Whilst standard batteries for running computers, mobile phones and other consumer electronics, these batteries have the density and longevity to store and dispatch solar electricity for at least 10 years.
The rise of lithium ion
Tesla is using Panasonic’s lithium-ion batteries for its cars and they recently flipped the switched on their giggafactory which is set to double the worlds production of lithium ion batteries. Tesla are well known for setting ambitious and unrealistic timelines for their renewable s projects, and Elon Musk has once again pulled it off by putting the factory live on schedule
For more information on solar batteries, visit our battery section here