As the world moves towards cleaner, more sustainable energy solutions, solar power is becoming increasingly popular. One of the key benefits of solar energy is that it can be stored in solar batteries, providing homeowners with a reliable and consistent source of energy even when the sun is not shining. Solar batteries represent a significant upfront financial investment, but can ultimately help save you money on energy costs after sundown or during an emergency. If you’re living off-grid, they may be critical components of your energy system.

What Are Solar Batteries?

Solar batteries are energy storage devices that are designed to capture and store the energy produced by solar panels. This energy can be used to power your home when the sun is not shining or during power outages. By storing excess energy during the day, you can ensure that your home has a consistent and reliable source of energy even when the sun goes down. They provide your home with clean, fairly green, renewable energy that would otherwise need to come from an outside source.

Imagine you’re home on a stormy night, watching TV with the washing machine running, and all of a sudden the power goes out. Now imagine the same scenario, except you have a rooftop solar energy system with battery storage. When the power goes out in your neighborhood, you’d be blissfully unaware.

A common myth about solar power is that you can count on it only when the sun is shining. You do need sunshine to generate electricity with solar, but what about the times when the sun isn’t shining? Most people rely on electricity from the power grid to supplement their solar-generated power. But residential solar energy systems paired with battery storage—generally called solar-plus-storage systems—provide power regardless of the weather or the time of day without having to rely on backup power from the grid.

Why Install Solar Batteries Now?

  • Around-the-clock power. If you use the utility billing mechanism known as time-of-use, and don’t have a solar energy system, your electricity in the evening is likely more expensive because of the higher demand on the system. With battery storage, however, you can use electricity generated during the day later on, rather than relying on the utility for power. This is also useful if you live in an area with frequent power outages.
  • Cost Savings. If your utility raises electricity rates, you can avoid that with a battery. Battery storage lets you leverage low-cost energy that has already been generated and stored, ensuring your rates stay low and don’t affect your monthly budget. In some cases, you can even sell the energy you’re storing back to the grid when the rates are higher and bank the profit.
  • Better monitoring. A solar-plus-storage system can help you to better track the energy your system is generating through monitoring capabilities, providing an enhanced level of transparency and precision. These systems allow you to track the energy your home is producing and using in real time.
  • More energy self-sufficiency. Solar batteries provide homeowners with greater energy independence. By storing your own energy, you can reduce your reliance on the grid and take control of your energy supply. Having Solar-plus-storage system takes you closer to “off the grid” status. This can be particularly beneficial during power outages or other emergencies when the grid may be down.

Why Wait Until Later?

The cost of solar batteries is expected to continue to decrease as the technology becomes more widely adopted. However, this also means that the incentives and rebates offered by utility companies may decrease as well.

Are Solar Batteries Worth it?

At the current moment, a Tesla Powerwall battery system will cost you approximately $16k to install and will save you, in the vicinity of $1000 per year.  It is easier and cheaper to install the panels and battery at the same time. But if you’ve already installed solar panels and want to add storage on later, you certainly have that option.

If you experience frequent power outages and want to keep your lights on when the grid goes dark, a battery can help you do just that. Installing a solar battery for home backup may not save you much money in the long run, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it: after all, you can’t put a price on peace of mind, right?

Conclusion

By installing solar batteries now, you can take advantage of incentives and rebates, protect yourself against future energy price increases, and start enjoying the benefits of solar energy today. So why wait?  But If none of these reasons jump out at you as compelling enough to add a battery, that’s okay! It probably means you shouldn’t install a battery right now.  However, that shouldn’t delay your decision to install solar panels.  Remember, you can always add a solar battery later!

Need help deciding?  Contact G&A Martin Solar and Electrical to learn more about what incentives are available to help benefit your home and your wallet.