SOLAR STORAGE BATTERIES DESIGNED FOR YOU

For many of our customers the reason to have  solar storage batteries is glaringly obvious. It goes way beyond having your lights on in the evening.  You become your own ‘power plant’.  It is the ultimate way to use as much of your own power as possible, achieve free electricity, a quicker ROI and potentially lucrative payments for your excess power if you choose to join a VPP.  

 

Here is some food for thought on the three reasons people raise for not having a solar battery:

Waiting for prices to come down

Batteries are commodities.  Prices have not dropped in the last 6 years and contrary to much internet chatter, probably won’t for years to come.  In fact they have gone the complete opposite way. Some batteries have doubled in price since 2017. Even if prices did drop, waiting is costing more.  Many of our customers are saving at least $2,000/year. Just think how much the people who purchased the first batteries in Australia have saved.

Waiting for technology to improve

The breakthrough has already happened when lithium-ion and lithium iron phosphate batteries became widely available. This was also when the major price drop occurred. Yes, there will continue to be improvements but if you install the right battery these improvements are done for you as they become available. Most technical equipment we are installing is receiving automatic firmware upgrades from the manufacturer, it is the same for batteries.  In some cases, the firmware adds functions that weren’t available at the time of purchase.  For example, our first Tesla Powerwall 2 customers that we installed in 2017 are now enjoying three free additional functions that their battery didn’t have when they purchased it. Most batteries can now be optimised for performance enhancement and all have Apps so you can check your status and load shift.

Upfront cost of solar storage batteries

There comes a point in solar power generation when you are losing money by not having a battery. When our customers reach that point, we encourage them to purchase one.  There are batteries with different capacities and price points. No Deposit Green Loans are available. The loans are repaid from electricity savings and in many cases even with the interest you are financially better off. We crunch the numbers with you.  We advise our customers against a battery if their power generation is too low, or the solar battery they are considering is too large.

We have a large range of solar battery sizes and prices to design the best solution for you.

HOW SOLAR STORAGE BATTERIES WORK

Solar storage batteries allow you to store the excess energy from you solar power system instead of exporting it for a low value to the grid.

When you install a solar power system, the energy flows around your house are controlled by your solar inverter. The job of the inverter is to keep you off the grid as much as possible, therefore reducing your electricity bill.

The solar inverter does this by supplying the house with energy firstly from the solar panels, secondly from solar storage batteries and finally for example at night, if the battery capacity is getting low, from the grid. Solar storage batteries can also help with EV charging, as it will increase the capacity of your renewable energy available at any given time from the home.

The inverter knows where and how much energy is needed because of an energy consumption meter we install into your switchboard. With a SolarEdge system you can monitor live data from your solar panels and observe the solar storage battery’s capacity to see if the pool pump or clothes dryer is putting you in the red, and maybe should be programmed for another time of the day. Better still, you can now connect those appliances to home automation devices that work together with the solar inverter, ensuring they won’t switch on unless there is enough excess energy being produced by the solar system. You can even turn your electric hot water tank into a solar PV powered tank that only heats with excess energy from your solar panels. What about using the excess solar power for room heating or pool heating? It’s all possible with Smart Energy Storage from Solarpro.

All Solarpro customers enjoy free 24/7 monitoring of their SolarEdge system.

WHY IS BATTERY BACK UP A GREAT FEATURE?

Battery backup is a function in the battery that supplies your home with electricity if the grid shuts down.

Our electricity grid is old. There are occasions when an overload or shortage occurs in the power lines, and the grid shuts down.

Contrary to popular belief, not all solar batteries have a backup function, but we recommend them, as they are a key benefit of solar batteries.

Installing a battery with a backup allows you to have your fridge working and your lights on when everyone else in the street is digging candles out of storage. Your children will still be able to complete their homework, you can still watch your favourite show, while the neighbourhood is on the phone to the energy company.

Some batteries only backup a small circuit and others will backup the whole house. For most people backup is important, so when purchasing a battery please make sure you not only ask, “Does it have backup” but also “How much backup capacity can I have?”

While it is rare, there have been occasions after bushfires and other disasters, when the grid was down for quite some time. If your solar battery is connected to your solar power system and you monitor your consumption then you can stay off the grid and have your house still operating well, for a prolonged period, as long as you have a decent battery size with backup.

TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR NEEDS TODAY
Largest range of solar storage batteries in Sydney

Through a partnership with Evergen we are able to offer our customers the opportunity to have their solar batteries optimised to achieve a significantly quicker ROI and join a VPP if desired.  Both options are free with no contracts.

SOLAR BATTERY OPTIMISATION

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VIRTUAL POWER PLANTS

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FAQs

What is the peak power rating?

A battery’s peak power rating is different to its continuous power rating.  It is the maximum power that a battery can produce in a short time. In essence, the maximum power rating measures the battery’s ability to withstand short power surges such as when equipment like a microwave draws more electricity when it starts.

What are key considerations when buying a solar storage battery?

Solarpro will take you through the best options for your needs and budget. With solar batteries it is important to ensure the solar system and battery are the correct size for individual needs. For example, do you know what your night time electricity consumption will be in summer and in winter? This data is important in determining the correct battery size for you.  Other things we’ll go through with you are:

  • Life expectancy of the battery/warranty. The amount of cycles the battery is warrantied for is important because the average home battery will do at least one cycle a day.
  • What are your immediate needs and budge? Can you start small and grow?
  • Battery back-up & which circuits need it. We don’t always recommend backing up the whole house because there is only a limited amount of stored energy in the battery. For example, if you have a 10kWh battery and a 5kW air-conditioner on full cooling in the blackout the battery will be flat in two hours. That is assuming your battery is fully charged at the time of the black-out.

These are the kind of questions we’ll go through with you to find the right solar battery for you.

Can I charge a solar battery during a black-out?

Not all solar storage batteries can be charged from your solar panels during the day if the grid is down. If you live in an area with a lot of black-outs, this is something that might be important to you in your choice of battery.  Our solar specialists will go through the options.  For example, AC coupled batteries e.g., Tesla Powerwall won’t charge from the solar panels if the grid is out because the solar inverter shuts down.

On the other hand, the SolarEdge Home solar battery system with back-up connected not only charges the battery if the grid is down it also lets you use the energy the solar panels produce to power the backed-up circuit.

The grid is aging and is increasingly a less stable source of energy. We don’t know what the future holds but if you are installing a home battery it seems sensible to make sure it has a back-up function.