Solar Battery Storage for Your Home – Do You Need It?
A solar battery or solar storage system allows you to store the electricity you have generated during the day and use it in the evening or during power cuts. We can help you determine whether a solar battery storage system is suitable for your home.
Check How Much You Currently Export
When evaluating whether or not solar battery storage will be suitable for your home you can first start by looking at how much of the power your existing solar panels are generating is currently being exported back to the grid. You can check your generation and consumption figures for your existing system on your online account. A large proportion of your daily generation being exported back to the grid could be harvested and used instead by a solar battery. A rough guide is that if you are exporting more than half your daily generation on a regular basis then there is real value to be had.
Look at When You Use Electricity
A battery is most suitable for homes that use most of their electricity in the evening after solar panels have stopped generating. Check your bills or your smart meter data to see if you are a morning electricity user, i.e. most of your appliances are switched on during the day. If so, then the potential benefit of energy storage is less.
Check Your Tariff
Some energy tariffs are better for solar battery storage than others. Energy-saving home improvements, such as loft insulation or solid walls, can be more cost-effective in the short term than solar battery storage. Find out whether energy-saving home improvements could be more suitable for you before you start looking for a solar battery system.
Find a Suitable Space
A battery storage unit must be stored in a dry, frost-free location with ventilation such as a utility room, garage, or under-stairs cupboard. Battery storage units are roughly the size of a large suitcase. Check with the installer to confirm that there are sufficient cable runs to connect to the consumer unit in your home without too much mess and disruption.
Consider Your Panel Output
It also needs enough electricity to be generated by your solar panels to fill the battery. Therefore, a small array of only 4 panels on a very shaded roof will not generate enough electricity to charge the battery sufficiently to make the investment worthwhile. The best orientation for solar battery storage is south or south-west with as little shading as possible.
If you are looking for Solar Battery Storage Stroud, see https://www.precisiongreenenergy.co.uk/renewables/solar-battery-storage/.
However, if you have checked all of the above points and the result is that a solar battery storage system is likely to be of value to you then it would be worth contacting a qualified solar battery installer, such as ourselves, who can come and carry out a full domestic energy storage system assessment for you here in the Stroud area.