How To Add Batteries To A Solar System

Recently energy retailers take started reducing financial incentives for households feeding excess solar power dorsum into the grid. This change has led many more than people to install solar batteries to increment their free energy independence from the grid.

In 2021, an average solar system often produces more electricity than a home needs. This backlog power is fantabulous during the daytime when a house can enjoy all that free electricity, simply what well-nigh at night when at that place'due south no solar ability?

Considering of this, many homeowners are installing solar batteries to store their extra solar free energy, making information technology available for use when the sun goes downward.

When the sun is shining, your panels collect energy and produce DC electricity. This DC electricity flows to an inverter, which converts the power into Air-conditioning electricity, usable by ability appliances, such equally lights and devices in your abode.

But what happens when your system generates more than solar energy than you could employ at that moment? Typically, backlog power is wasted or exported to the filigree for solar credits.

6 LG HV batteries configured to run three phase and off grid — One of our larger installations of LG HV batteries configured to run three phase and off grid

These solar credits are known as the solar feed-in tariffs (FITs). Currently, FITs are reducing yearly in Commonwealth of australia, prompting more people to save their excess free energy in a battery instead.

Rather than exporting your extra solar free energy to the filigree for minimal credit, you can store your excess solar power in a solar battery, making it available for use at night.

Others are looking for options to accept their homes 'off the grid' or protect themselves from blackouts.

Adding solar batteries to an existing solar system provides an attractive incentive for homeowners looking to reduce their monthly bills even further or get completely self-sufficient.

Is it possible to add a battery to an existing solar organization? Even an old solar organization, or one that is not 'battery ready', how is this done?

Storage Ready Systems

The good news is, all solar systems can have solar batteries fastened to them, in one way or another! The 'type' of solar system yous have volition touch the way you add a bombardment. If your solar system is battery ready, this means you have a hybrid solar inverter, which can have a bombardment connected directly.

Suppose you accept a regular solar inverter that is not a hybrid. In that case, yous will need to consider calculation a battery with its own inverter that can also 'interface' with your existing solar system and use power from your electric current solar organization to charge and discharge, even without existence direct connected to that system.

As a side note, hybrid inverters are usually a 'DC coupled' configuration, and stand-alone battery inverters are generally an 'AC coupled' design.

What'south the divergence between AC and DC solar batteries?

DC Coupling a Solar Bombardment

As mentioned above, a DC battery configuration is where a solar bombardment takes DC electricity directly from the solar panels. DC coupling is a slightly (almost 5%) more efficient mode to install a solar bombardment and commonly takes place by using a 'hybrid' inverter.

The inverter is considered a hybrid when it combines a solar and a battery inverter into one unit of measurement. This combo unit of measurement allows the solar battery to accept DC free energy directly from the solar panels; the hybrid inverter can then convert this stored energy to usable AC power when the dwelling house requires information technology.

AC Coupling a Solar Battery

An Air conditioning battery configuration is advantageous when your existing solar system is not a hybrid system and therefore does not have any way to plug a battery in.

An AC coupled battery gets its name because it doesn't take electricity directly from your solar panels, which produce DC power. Instead, information technology uses your extra solar power from the switchboard (which is AC power).

LG 10kW Solar battery — A 10kW LG Solar battery

In other words, an Air-conditioning solar battery 'watches' your home's switchboard, and it tin can 'run across' when there's extra solar power spilling back into the grid or going to waste.

When the inverter sees this extra ability (via special meters in the switchboard, known every bit CT meters), it redirects the backlog ability into the solar battery.

An Air conditioning coupled battery can also 'meet' when your home is about to pull energy from the grid and instead supply the holding with enough ability from the battery. This configuration means your AC solar battery will work with any solar arrangement; considering it works by reading electricity excess and deficits at the switchboard and redirecting battery power accordingly.

It usually does not matter what kind of solar system yous already have continued to your property when adding a solar battery. You can ever AC couple a battery.

An example of batteries that can exist AC coupled are Tesla, SkyBox and LG solar batteries; however, LG and SkyBox batteries tin can also be DC coupled. Cheque out information about our custom SkyBox solution here.

Off-Grid and Blackout Protection

While we've covered how to add a battery to save money, information technology's worth mentioning many people also want solar batteries for the do good of being able to disconnect and go off-grid or to protect themselves from blackouts.

You can also DC or AC couple an off-grid bombardment (like the SkyBox). Meaning, if you already have solar and want to disconnect the filigree, adding something like a SkyBox can allow you lot to go off-grid or gain blackout protection without having to alter your existing solar arrangement at all.

Solar battery and inverters installed in a garage — A Solar battery installation with inverters

Your Bottom Line

Solar batteries are about saving money; others desire to get off-grid and remain complimentary from ability companies. Whatever your reason, it's great to know that you lot tin can add a solar battery to almost whatsoever existing solar arrangement.

Equally a final notation, if your current solar system is tiny, information technology may not be powerful plenty to charge your new battery, so make sure you lot assess this in advance and consider adding more solar panels to help charge your bombardment even faster.

Contact us for more than data and specifics virtually your current solar energy system. We're happy to assist you go over the specifics involved in changes to your system and be sure View more about our custom SkyBox solutions.