If you've had solar power at home for a while, then you already know how effective this power source is. You're harnessing the sun to create your own electricity and your energy bills are lower.
If you've bought into solar power, then you could take things a step further and retrofit a battery to your system. What does this battery do, and how will it help you?
How Does a Solar Battery Work?
If you're using a traditional solar system, then you use the energy you create immediately. You can't store this power for your own use later. At some point, usually when it gets dark at night and your panels stop harvesting light, you might have to switch to using grid power.
If your system has a battery on it, then it works more effectively throughout the day and night. You can store any excess energy you create in the battery. So, when the sun goes down or on gloomy days, you switch to battery power and tap into the energy you created earlier.
Why Add a Solar Battery?
If you don't have a deal where you export unused energy to the grid, then you waste any excess energy you create. If you do have a deal, then the power company uses this energy even if you don't use it yourself.
Plus, if you have a feed-in tariff, then you will get some money for the energy you pass on. However, this won't necessarily amount to a lot of money. It may not cover the costs of the grid energy you have to use at non-producing times. These are often peak times with the highest costs.
If you have a battery system, then you store excess energy for your use at home. You have your own energy source in the evenings and at night. If you have a couple of dull days without much sun, then you still have access to your own power source.
This should reduce the times you need to switch to grid power. If you can do this, then you're likely to have lower electricity bills. If you create enough energy, you could even find that you're able to power your home off-grid with no consumption costs at all.
While it is possible to retrofit a battery to an existing system, this might not work with every set-up. To find out if you can do this and what it would involve, ask your solar electrician for advice.
