Solar batteries are a wise energy storage investment. You won’t be able to store energy generated by your system for later use without a battery bank. If you’re connected to the grid, you won’t have any backup power if the utility system goes down. If you live off the grid, your system will simply not operate.
Batteries are critical to the operation of your equipment
Many aspects go into selecting the appropriate battery for your solar panels, including the battery’s capacity, power, efficiency, and cost, all of which are dependent on your demands. Let’s take a look at how solar batteries operate, the many types of batteries for home available, and our suggestions for the best solar batteries in 2020 to help you make the best decision.
How do solar batteries work?
You may store extra solar energy instead of sending it back to the power grid when you install a solar battery as part of your solar panel installation. If your panels generate more electricity than you use, the excess energy may be used to recharge your batteries.
When your solar panels aren’t producing electricity, you may use the stored energy to power your home. When your battery is full, electricity is supplied back to the grid, and when the battery is low, electricity is drawn from the grid.
What Are the Different Battery Types?
Lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries for homes are commonly used for energy storage. Before deciding on the ideal battery for your solar system, it’s crucial to grasp the differences between deep cycle batteries, flooded lead-acid batteries, sealed lead-acid batteries, and lithium batteries.
Keep these things in mind first
You’ll want to evaluate each type of battery based on capacity, depth of discharge (DoD), round trip efficiency, and battery life as you explore your solar battery alternatives to identify the best batteries for solar based on your system’s needs.
- Capacity: A solar battery’s capacity is the entire quantity of power it can store. Kilowatt-hours are the units of measurement for this power (kWh).
- The depth of discharge (DoD) is a measurement of how much of the battery’s capacity has been utilised. The greater the DoD, the more battery capacity you’ll get out of it. In general, your discharge depth should be at least 40% or more.
- The difference between the quantity of energy consumed to charge it and the amount of energy available is known as round-trip efficiency. It is often more cost effective to have a better round-trip efficiency. You should aim for an 80 percent round-trip efficiency.
- Battery life and warranty: Because battery performance degrades with time, a warranty ensures that the battery will work properly for years or cycles while also insuring that the battery will keep a specific capacity.
- Lithium batteries may last for a long time before needing to be recharged. Lead-acid batteries would be harmed in this condition since they need to be recharged every day and would be ruined after many days without a full charge.