The decision of whether a solar storage battery is worth it depends on your individual circumstances and goals. Here are some factors to consider:
Energy usage: If you have high energy usage, a solar storage battery may be worth it as it can help offset your electricity bills by storing excess energy produced during the day for use at night.
Solar panel system: If you have a solar panel system installed at your home, adding a storage battery can increase the efficiency of your system as it allows you to store excess energy produced during the day for later use.
Cost: Solar storage batteries can be expensive, and the cost may not be worth it if you don’t have high energy usage or if you have a small solar panel system.
Cost of purchasing the unit (kwh) against the cost of selling to the grid (SME). Recently the gap between selling and buying has increased, which makes it even more attractive for homeowners to invest in solar battery storage.
Backup power: If you live in an area with frequent power outages, a solar storage battery can provide backup power for your home.
In summary, a solar storage battery is worth it if you have high energy usage, utilise power in evening and first thing in the morning, cost of buying electricity is much higher than selling and/or you live in an area with frequent power outages.
What is solar panel battery storage?
An energy-storage system, also called a home or solar battery, lets you capture electricity so you can use it at another time. For example, you can store the electricity your solar panels generate during the day and use it at night.
This relatively new technology worth considering if you generate your own energy at home with solar panels but could use more outside daylight hours – or plan to start doing so
If you have solar PV panels, or are planning to install them, then using home batteries to store electricity you’ve generated will help you to maximise the amount of renewable energy you use.
Home-energy storage will also reduce the electricity you use from the grid and cut your energy bills. If your home is off grid, it can help to reduce your use of fossil fuel back-up generators.
Even without solar panels, you may be looking to make use of time-of-use tariffs with a battery. These let you store up electricity while it’s cheaper (overnight, for example) so you can then use it during peak times.
Some energy companies have launched this already, and we expect to see more of them doing This as it can help to balance energy supply and demand and reduce the need for additional fossil-fuel generation at peak times.
What size solar storage battery do I need?
The average home uses around 8kWh of electricity per day. The capacity of domestic new lithium-ion batteries ranges from around 1kWh up to as much as 20kWh.
Ideally, you want a battery that will cover your evening and night-time electricity usage, ready to be charged up again when the sun comes up. You’ll also need to bear in mind how much your solar panels can generate, as there’s no point buying a battery that’s bigger than they can fill.
With a battery that is well chosen for your home’s energy use and your solar panels’ output, you should find that you can have enough electricity to serve your evening needs for most of the year. You might find that you are still drawing on grid electricity for some of the longest winter nights.
Please talk to one of an Elektra Smart Energy team member to discuss what will be the right size battery for your home.
Can I save money with a solar battery?
According to ‘Which?’ survey, carried out with their members in 2019 about their solar panels, 106 of our 1,987 survey respondents had battery storage. 25% paid less than £3,000 for their battery system, while 41% paid between £4,000 and £7,000 (excluding the cost of the PVs themselves). Installing a home-energy storage system is a long-term investment to make the most of your solar-generated energy and help cut your energy bills.
Whether a battery will save you money depends on
- the cost of installation
- how it’s used (including the effectiveness of the control algorithm)
- the price of electricity (and how it changes during the lifetime of your system)
- the battery’s lifetime.
Batteries can be expensive to buy, but prices are dropping all the time, as are solar panel prices. With electricity prices at record highs, the payback times are improving.
If you have an electric vehicle, being able to store cheaper electricity to charge it could help to cut your costs.
Sample of one of our Systems designed by Elektra Smart Energy:
To understand Solar Batteries further, read our comprehensive guide to empowering your home.