Solar Battery Storage has come of age…
Install now and increase your home’s independence, reduce electricity bills and create a sustainable lifestyle.
Contact us on 02392 006161 or email enquiries@solar-voltaics.com
For many years there has been a hope that solar battery storage will advance far enough that providing electricity storage in combination with a solar energy system becomes both viable and common practice. The ability to store excess generated electricity from a solar PV system and store it for use later in the day or night time is an obvious advance that many have been waiting for to improve their levels of self sufficiency.
Solar Voltaics have selected two of the most advanced battery systems available on the market – Tesla Powerwall 2 and Givenergy. Not only do they have excellent storage capacity and warranties, but they are designed to integrate with smart energy tariffs such as Octopus Agile and Octopus Go. By combining battery storage with one of these ‘time of use’ tariffs you can make dramatic savings in your energy costs.
Get Started Today
Ready to take the first step towards a cleaner, more sustainable energy future? Contact us today to learn more about our solar and battery storage systems. Our team of experts are here to answer any questions you may have and help you find the right solution for your needs. Plus, with our affordable pricing and exceptional quality, you can be sure that you’re making a smart investment in your future. Thank you for considering Solar Voltaics!
Contact us on 02392 006161 or email enquiries@solar-voltaics.com
Tesla Powerwall 2
Powerwall’s lithium ion battery inherits Tesla’s proven automotive battery technology to power your home safely and economically. An integrated inverter reduces external components, which simplifies and lowers installation costs. Powerwall is a completely automated system that requires no maintenance. The Tesla Powerwall 2 AC is a fully integrated AC battery system for residential or light commercial use. Its rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack provides energy storage for solar self-consumption, load shifting and backup power.
Fully installed from £9,750 + VAT
Large stocks on order. Call 023 92 006150 to reserve yours now.
Find out more about Tesla Powerwall 2 here
Hybrid inverters are ideal when installing solar and battery storage at the same time. The hybrid inverter converts DC power from the solar panels into AC mains power, but also manages when to charge and discharge the battery. Because all this happens in one unit it reduces the overall cost of the system whilst maintaining high efficiencies.
AC Coupled inverters are ideal where a solar PV system is already installed with an existing inverter. The addition of the AC coupled coupled inverter is purely for managing the battery charge and discharge.
Fully installed from £3,542 + VAT (AC Coupled + 2.6KWh battery)
Call 023 92 006150 for FREE survey
Find out more about Givenergy Battery Storage here
Understanding Solar Battery Storage
Your solar PV system without Battery Storage
The solar PV system on your roof will generate electricity during the day that you can use in your home. Without a means of storing that solar electricity, any surplus energy that you don’t use is ‘exported’ to the local grid. During times when the panels are no longer generating (or not generating enough for your needs), you need to buy electricity back from your electricity supplier.
Solar PV with added Battery Storage – How it Works
‘Energy storage’ lets you store the surplus solar electricity, instead of exporting it. Battery storage lets you use more of your solar PV system’s output (in the jargon, it ‘increases ‘self-consumption’). This reduces the amount of grid electricity you need to buy, saving you money on your electricity bill.
During the day :
- the solar PV system generates solar electricity
- the solar battery storage system will check if all the generation is being used to power your lights and appliances
- if you’re not using all the electricity that the solar PV system is generating, then the system will ensure that any surplus energy is used to charge the battery
- once the battery is fully charged, if there is still more solar electricity being generated, this will be exported to the grid (or in some systems, will be diverted to other uses e.g. to an immersion heater)
- In the evening or at time of low solar generation:
- the solar PV panels have a reduced or zero output
- the battery system can discharge the stored electricity, providing you with renewable-generated electricity at no additional cost
- once the battery is discharged, if you need to use more electricity, you buy it from your electricity supplier
Battery capacity – What size do I need?
Solar Battery storage systems are often provided with a capacity rating in kiloWattHours (kWh). Storage batteries for a grid connected solar PV storage system are typically around 2kW to 20kWh. This is the capability of the battery to provide power.
- all batteries lose some energy in charging and discharging (typically around 10%), though some have better ‘charge-discharge efficiency’ than others.
- most batteries are not designed to be routinely fully discharged (can reduce battery life). Some have deeper discharge capability than others.
What could a solar battery storage system power?
A fully-charged medium-sized system could store sufficient energy to power during the evening your lights and lower-powered items like your fridge-freezer, TV and laptop. Over four or five hours, all of these together will use at most a few “units” or kiloWatt-hours (kWh), of electricity.
However, the battery will quickly run out if you put on high energy use devices like the washing-machine or tumble-dryer: these can consume 2 – 3kWh in a single use. The higher capacity your battery is, the longer you can run your home withought buying power from the grid.
And in winter, the battery might not receive enough energy from your solar panels to provide for even the lower-powered items for many hours. You can compensate for this though by automatically charging your battery up at night on a cheap off-peak tariff.
Power-cut operation
Despite expectations, some storage systems will not provide power during a power-cut.
Some solar battery storage systems however do have an ‘off-grid’ functionality, providing a limited amount of power to your home, or to essential equipment (such as your fridge-freezer, lighting etc). But a battery may run out of power before the power cut ends – or have already run out of power if it’s been discharging all evening and the power outage starts late at night or early in the morning.
If you require your battery storage system to provide power during power-cuts it is important to talk this through with us from the outset as the system will need to be carefully designed and set-up to your specific requirements.
Battery lifetime
A battery’s efficient lifetime depends on the technology and the way the battery is used – significantly on the number of ‘cycles’ (complete full battery charge and discharge) that they undergo.
Manufacturers generally give an expected lifetime in years and/or in ‘charge-discharge cycles’. For example:
- ‘Life expectancy = 10 years or 10,000 cycles, whichever is the sooner’
Lithium-ion batteries last longer than lead-acid: you may see a 10-year lifetime expectancy claimed and this is improving all the time.
Normally the solar battery storage system will monitor the battery performance and should give you an indication when your batteries need replacing.
