When to Install A Solar Power Battery At Home
The Australian Energy Council reports that nearly 1.4 million homes (i.e. 15% of the Australian population) have solar panels in their homes.
Australia leads the world in domestic solar PV, and is also sixth in world solar production.
The solar revolution in Australia is well and truly underway, but what about solar power batteries at home?
The Best Time to Install Solar Batteries
The best time to install solar batteries is in Spring.
If you have your array up and running in Spring, you can make full use of summer when solar power generation will be at its highest.
Australia’s summer is pretty hot with most of the country exceeding 30℃. So, it makes sense to install your array in spring and benefit from the long and hot summer days.
In addition you’ll also have a good chance of beating the summer rush and maybe even get a better deal too!
Did you know that a 5kW solar array can save you up to $500 every quarter?
You’d essentially be saving hundreds before the summer is even over enabling you to drastically reduce your electricity bills and run your home on solar power.
What’s the Cost of Solar Batteries?
Solar batteries have been around for a while but were quite expensive until recently.
Thanks to advances in technology, solar batteries have become cheaper and they’re now a viable option for customers.
The cost of the solar batteries fell approximately 14% every year from 2007 to 2014.
Now that more and more Australians are adopting solar power, the price is expected to fall even further.
Currently, solar batteries cost between $1000 – $2000 per kWh, and that doesn’t include the cost of the solar system itself!
The price of the solar panel depends on the size of the solar system and can range anywhere from $2000 – $12000 for a residential product.
For domestic use, a 4kWh system is a popular choice which comes in at around to $6000 to $8000 (excluding installation).
How Many Solar Batteries Do You Need to Power Your Home?
The number of batteries you would need depends on the size of your system, the power output and your usage.
With a renewable energy solution, you need one or two batteries to power your home during the night when your array isn’t producing power.
However, the batteries are directly related to the solar array.
So the bigger the solar system, the more batteries you would need so as to avoid feeding power back into the grid and wasting the energy you’ve produced.
If you install a smaller system with plans to expand later on, your better option is the modular battery to add as and when the need arises.
Another critical factor to consider is your power usage.
If you are a household that consumes a lot of power, you might want to consider a battery with a high capacity.
But if your battery has a low capacity, you may need more batteries to power your home.
Finally, you may want to reconsider the timings.
If the majority of the power usage is in the evening, you will need a larger battery.
For most households, energy consumption will be split between morning and evening.
In this case, you may want to have your system provide power in the morning and the battery at night.
Conclusion
Australia is slowly moving towards solar power.
The best time to install solar batteries is Spring just before the summer starts, so be sure to talk to solar power experts to figure out how much battery capacity you’ll need based on your usage.
