Solar battery benefits — See what they can and cannot do
There is some confusion and misunderstanding of what solar batteries can actually do. Yes, they can achieve quite a lot in your bid for energy independence and freedom from the power company. And they deliver obvious environmental benefits by reducing your carbon footprint and using fewer fossil fuels. But there are limitations, and some of those limitations depend on the brand of solar battery.
So before you start comparing solar batteries, you would be wise to take a moment and be sure you know what you’re looking for, and that your expectations are realistic. There are several benefits of solar battery systems, and they can be used for several purposes. Be sure those align with your needs.
Here are a few things solar batteries can and cannot do.
6 most rewarding benefits of solar battery storage
For those in the right situation, solar battery storage systems can turn a good opportunity into a great one. We’ll begin by looking at six benefits of owning a solar battery system.
1. You’ll have increased solar efficiency
For grid-connected solar panels, any excess energy you produce goes to the grid. Even if you have a good net metering policy that gives you full or nearly full credit for excess electricity generated, you still lose some in the transmission process.
It is more efficient to use all the excess solar energy you produce without sending it to the power grid, and battery storage makes that possible.
2. You can overcome weak net metering policies
If you live in an area with weak or non-existent net metering, then any excess power produced by your solar panels gets taken by the power grid, and you get nothing for it.
To make better use of your solar power investment, battery storage enables you to keep your excess energy and use all or almost all of it. By using more of the energy generated by your solar system, your investment into solar energy pays off sooner.
3. You can avoid high peak power bills
Some utilities charge extra high rates during times of peak energy consumption, such as in the evenings. And during those times, your solar panels often can’t provide usable electricity because the sun is down.
But with solar battery storage, you can continue to power your farm or business during these times of peak energy usage and realize even bigger cost savings than you’ll already get through solar power.
If your electricity bills are rising due to variable power rates and peak charges, solar energy storage will be a game changer.
4. Produce energy at night with solar battery backup
With a solar battery storage system, you can produce energy for your farm or rural business — even for use at night. By morning, most likely you will have depleted all your excess solar energy, but you didn’t need to use the electric grid nearly as much as you would have, and your solar battery system will recharge the next day. This again provides a huge savings on your energy bills.
5. You can sustain your basic needs during power outages (for certain brands)
Certain brands of solar batteries do not function during outages because they only work when tied to the power grid. If having a continuous power supply is one of the main reasons you want solar battery storage, make sure you buy a brand that will kick in during an outage and provide backup power to your farm or business’ key systems. Ask a solar expert to guide you through your selection.
For places with frequent power outages, this is a major reason to consider solar battery storage.
If we’re talking about your poultry living or dying during an extended outage in the middle of winter, for example — the solar battery system could save their lives and your bottom line, in addition to the cost savings on your electric bill.
This is far more important than price!
Solar battery systems are fairly costly in most cases, but the most important thing is to get your needs and priorities met first, and look at price second. And given time, you will eventually recover the high upfront costs. And to be clear, you will find some pretty wide variations in price.
Solar batteries that work during a power outage are often called hybrid batteries. A solar consultant can help you be sure the kind of solar battery you’re looking at will work with your solar power system.
6. You’ll gain more energy independence
At the end of the day, you can sum up all the benefits of solar battery storage systems with one word:
Freedom.
Energy independence means freedom from high electric bills. Freedom from having to pay whatever and whenever the utility company tells you — including during times of peak energy usage. Freedom from worry about power outages. Freedom from fossil fuels. Freedom to produce your own energy and use it when you want — even at night. Freedom to store excess energy for emergencies.
Solar battery systems take all the renewable energy benefits of solar panels, and amplify them.
They will significantly reduce electricity costs at much higher rates than solar power alone. Which is why, even with the higher upfront costs, you’ll also be saving more money each month on your energy bills and enjoy a better overall ROI.
Is a solar energy storage system worth the investment? They are if these benefits meet your needs and represent the life you want to live.
4 Solar battery limitations
You’ve seen the benefits of solar batteries. They can do a lot. But there are some things they cannot do, or that they can only do in certain situations. Know ahead of time what is and isn’t possible before you get too far into selecting a particular brand of solar battery system.
And by the way, this is why it’s good to work with an experienced, professional solar installation company like Ag Solar. Because we aren’t beholden to just one solar battery company. And we can help you figure out which brand most aligns with what you want and need.
Here are four limitations to what solar battery systems can do.
1. They don’t work with all types of solar panels
Different solar batteries have been designed for different purposes. You have already seen one example, that not all of them can provide backup power during power outages. Some batteries, like hybrids, are designed to store energy and use it regardless of whether the power is on or off. Others are not.
Here are a few other situations where only certain types of solar batteries will work:
Certain solar panel brands
Some solar batteries are only compatible with certain brands or types of solar panels. If you have an existing solar panel system, make sure the battery storage system you’re looking at is compatible with your brand of solar panels.
Existing solar panels
Likewise, some solar batteries can only be installed at the same time as the solar panels, whereas others can be added on to an existing solar panel system. If you have an existing solar system and want to upgrade it with battery storage, you will be limited to particular solar battery brands.
If you are considering installing solar for the first time, you will have more options for batteries — but if you want a brand that must be installed at the same time as the solar panels, you’ll have to decide at the time of installation.
Certain sizes of solar arrays
Some solar batteries are designed for specific sizes of solar arrays. Some battery systems work with smaller arrays like those used by a small rural business. Other batteries were designed for larger solar systems like industrial plants and large warehouses, businesses, and farms.
Off-grid systems
If you have or are interested in off-grid solar energy systems, you will encounter a whole host of additional challenges compared to a grid-connected system. And with off-grid solar, it is practically essential to get battery storage. Otherwise you are assured of having no power at night, ever, unless you have other backup power sources.
There are particular brands of solar battery storage systems designed to work with off-grid solar panel systems. So if you’re going off-grid, look for brands that specialize in that.
Outdoor solar situations
Finally, some solar batteries are designed to work outside in small scale situations, such as with boats and RVs. Sometimes you’ll see very low prices for batteries and wonder why they’re so much lower. Often, this is why, because a boat or an RV doesn’t need as much energy stored to power all the systems on board.
You’d need dozens of these kinds of batteries to power a farm or business. It would be impractical and would not result in lower electricity bills over the larger solar battery options.
2. Most solar batteries will not disconnect you from the grid
Again, this part is complicated.
An off-grid solar array can be disconnected from the grid…obviously. And so can its battery storage system, as mentioned earlier.
But an on-grid system will remain on the grid after you buy the solar battery system. If your batteries become fully charged, then any excess power will again be sent back as grid electricity, and will be subject to net metering policies. During an outage, you would need a hybrid solar battery system to keep your lights on with backup power. But you will still be connected to the grid.
When you’re deciding how many batteries to buy, this is one of your considerations — how long will it take for them to max out on energy storage, and how much energy will that provide you?
The answers to questions like this depend on your goals. If you want to provide power for all your needs even through the night, you want enough energy storage to make that possible, at least on sunny days. If you’re storing excess solar energy mainly for emergency power, you have a different criteria to determine how many batteries and which battery systems you’ll consider.
3. Batteries will not sustain all your energy needs in power outages
It is almost impossible for your solar panels to meet all the energy needs of your farm or rural business during a power outage. For outages lasting several days, it becomes even more unlikely.
That’s why, if keeping your power on during an outage is one of your main reasons for wanting battery storage, your best approach is to also install a new subpanel connected with the solar batteries. With that, you can specify which systems you want the batteries to supply power to during an outage.
For example, suppose you have a rural dental clinic. What systems would you need to keep powered if you wanted to avoid canceling your appointments during an extended outage? Which ones could you live without for a day or two?
On a poultry farm, if you lose power for days in the middle of the winter like what happened in Texas a few years back, the whole point of having solar batteries in that situation would be to use your heater and keep your chickens from freezing. But, your heater will use up that stored energy pretty fast.
In that situation, the question becomes, how much battery capacity would you need to sustain your farm’s primary operations for one day, two days, three days, etc? An Ag Solar consultant could help you answer this question.
4. They don’t recharge forever
Just like the rechargeable battery in your phone or laptop, solar batteries slowly lose the ability to fully recharge. In technical terms, their depth of discharge decreases a little bit with each cycle of storing and using energy.
So when you buy a solar battery, it will not last forever. This is a price differentiator. Often, the more expensive batteries will last much longer than the less expensive ones. So you have to decide how many years of life you want to invest into your solar batteries.
Speak with a Solar Consultant
As you can see, solar battery storage is complicated. It can work wonders in your quest to own your power, reduce your energy bills, and liberate your farm or rural business from the utility. You can beat peak power rates and sidestep lousy net metering policies.
But certain brands only work in certain situations, and the power outage issue is quite a bit more complicated than you may have realized before reading this.
If you are interested in solar battery storage, ask your solar consultant for options and possibilities while you’re discussing your new solar array if you don’t have one already. Or, if you do already have solar panels but are interested in upgrading them with solar batteries, talk to a solar consultant and get a quote on solar battery installation.
