Solar Energy Storage – What Are the Benefits?
Solar energy storage is an increasingly popular way for homeowners to decrease their dependence on the grid and save money. Here are some of the benefits to consider when considering a solar-plus-storage system.
Using battery storage during peak TOU rates can help you avoid paying higher utility rates and maximize your net metering credits. PWRcell can also provide backup power for your home during utility power outages.
Boost your home’s resiliency
Adding solar battery storage to a residential solar system can enable your home to island away from the grid in the event of a power outage. This is known as “solar islanding” and it’s accomplished via smart inverter controls that can disconnect your home from the grid based on the safety, availability, and cost of local electricity. During an outage, the solar energy that you have stored in your battery will power your home. Typically, solar plus battery systems can cover your daily power demands during an outage that lasts for up to 5 days. This is much more than the 2-3 day duration of most typical outages. Solar battery storage is also a cleaner and quieter alternative to traditional fossil fuel-burning generators.
Energy storage helps smooth out erratic fluctuations in solar power production caused by season, time of day, clouds, dust and haze. In the form of a co-located solar PV and battery, or a stand alone battery system, solar energy storage can help reduce your dependence on the utility grid even more.
If you live in a state with net energy metering policies that don’t fairly compensate you for the solar power that you send back to the grid, or if your utility offers high energy rates during peak use times, a home battery system can also help offset those expensive prices. Our Tesla solar systems offer integrated battery storage called Powerwall to help you save money, reduce your reliance on the utility grid and keep the lights on during outages.
Increase your energy self-sufficiency
When you pair your solar system with energy storage, it unlocks the full potential of your solar panels. You can Solar energy storage system store any excess electricity generated on sunny days, and use it at night or during a grid outage. You’ll also be able to take advantage of peak demand time period discounts that your utility may offer.
With the right battery size, you can even reach a high level of self-consumption. For example, a 1 kWh battery increases your solar self-use in December to 19% and pushes it to 44% on a yearly basis. With a 5 kWh battery, you can achieve up to 65% of your home’s electricity needs on a daily basis.
Adding a storage system will also increase your energy self-consumption during the summer months when there is plenty of solar production and low demand. You can save the electricity that you export to the grid during these hours, and instead, use it to charge your battery.
This can help you take advantage of SGIP (Self-Generation Incentive Program), a California-based incentive that helps homeowners generate their own clean energy and reduce their reliance on the utility.
Reduce your dependence on the grid
Whether it’s co-located with, or placed next to solar panels, or even standalone, energy storage can be used to better integrate solar into the grid. By reducing the strain on the grid and mitigating the Duck Curve, it can reduce costs and enhance resiliency for everyone.
Energy storage can be used for residential solar installations, or even commercial and industrial. By pairing solar with energy storage you can increase your self-consumption, and help to offset the impact of time-of-use rates on your utility bills.
Many utilities have time-of-use electricity rates, where they charge a higher rate during peak energy demand hours (generally from 4pm-9pm). This can make it difficult to reap the full benefits of your solar system as you may need to purchase power from the grid at those times. Having battery storage allows you to store your solar energy and use it during those high-demand hours when electricity is most expensive, thus saving you money on your utility bills.
Energy storage can be used with both grid-tied and off-grid solar installations, though it is more commonly used with the former. By combining with solar, you can maximize the savings and benefits of both – from increased energy self-consumption, to faster ROI, to eligibility for federal tax credits. The 2020s are the decade of action, and now is a great time to explore your options for deploying renewable energy and energy storage in your home or business.
Save money
Energy storage is a cost-effective way to maximize the power-producing potential of your solar PV system. It helps you reduce your dependence on fossil fuel, lower your utility bills and supports technologies that continue the international drive towards a cleaner climate future.
Energy storage enables you to leverage your excess solar generation at night or on cloudy days, when electricity rates are highest. It also helps you avoid costly utility power outages that can last for hours or even days.
In states with demand charges, battery energy storage can be used to keep Solar energy storage system building peak demands below a threshold value, saving significant money. This is called “peak shaving.”
If your utility offers time-of-use rate plans, an energy storage system can help you save money by storing your solar electricity at off-peak times when the energy is less expensive to buy from the grid. This enables you to take advantage of lower electricity rates and pay off your solar power system more quickly.
A solar energy storage system that uses lithium batteries (such as the Generac PWRcell) can help you avoid the risk of being hit with high electric bills when your utility raises rates. In addition, it offers an enhanced level of monitoring that allows you to track your energy usage and savings more accurately. A solar-plus-storage solution is also a good choice for those with utilities that offer true net metering, which gives you the same credit when you feed electricity back into the grid as what you pay to receive from it.