Going solar comes with a lot of benefits. You don't have to worry about paying high power bills, being affected by power outages, and probably enjoying some governmental incentives, to mention a few. Knowing the benefits of storing solar energy is suitable in determining whether installing them is worth the investment. It also helps you find a reliable solar company that will help you achieve the best outcomes out of your solar battery storage installation. Below are some of the advantages you can enjoy:
Reasons Why You Need Solar Panel Battery Storage for Your Home
Several advantages come with installing solar. However, coupling it with a solar battery brings additional benefits. Mentioned below are some of the benefits of installing solar panel batteries for your home.
Makes the Most of Your Power
With a standard solar installation, you'll still be plugged into the grid. Therefore, you're at risk of drawing from the national or state power grid to make up for the deficit. This means that you will pay for the energy just like you would without solar panels.
However, you will store your excess power in the battery storage. Therefore, when your system is not producing enough energy at night, you can pull your saved battery energy. You will have more control of how you use your energy and don't have to pay high energy prices for your evening usage.
You Don't Need to Export Your Solar Energy
With a solar system, you'll be generating electricity on sunny days. Therefore, you'll use your solar-generated power at a specific time and export the excess energy to the grid. However, you probably don't know that the price of returning extra power to the grid is three times less than the rate you will be buying the electricity. Therefore, storing and using your solar energy from the batteries makes more sense than exporting it to the power grid.
Allows Real-Time Monitoring
A solar battery system also allows you to monitor your energy consumption in real-time. It also lets you know how much energy your solar panel generates and how much you're saving with your battery. Therefore, you'll never be in the loop. With a good battery storage system, you can also keep track of your residential consumption.
Reduces Your Residential Carbon Footprint
Solar power reduces carbon emissions by providing a clean and renewable energy source. Since your solar panels will be collecting energy while the batteries store it, you don't have to rely on fossil fuels and other products used to generate electricity. Apart from that, you will waste none of the energy since you can send it to the grid.
By storing your solar power energy, you will drastically reduce your household's footprint, which is the total greenhouse gas emission caused by your home.
Reduces Water Pollution
About 72% of water pollution comes from fossil power plants. This is a troublesome number of personal and environmental hazards! Water is also used to cool nuclear plants. Due to the process used to cool down these plants, these power plants can release at least three million tons of toxic metal, lead, and arsenic.
Solar energy and the impact of water pollution are subjects that people often don't talk about. Generating renewable energy using solar panels is a reliable solution to water pollution. Therefore, whenever you use solar power and store the excess power, you'll be playing a part in reducing the level of water pollution.
Reduces Air Pollution
At least 31% of greenhouse gases in the United States come from electricity production. The predominant gases emitted from electricity production are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Greenhouse gases also diminish the quality of air, which impacts human health.
Solar energy and battery storage have paved the way to reduce the emission of air pollutants. For a perspective, the solar technology currently installed across the U.S is expected to counterbalance up to 16.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. Therefore, by installing battery storage, you'd be playing a part in reducing air pollution and ensuring clean air.
Solar Energy Storage Reduces Hazardous Waste
About 120 million tons of toxic waste from power generating plants is generated in the U.S alone. These toxic wastes are disposed of in landfills, mining sites, and toxic ponds. Other toxic waste by-products like sludge and coal ash are disposed of in runoffs that empty in waterways and agricultural fields.
If you can store solar energy, you don't need the radioactive storage waste and fuel transportation of the wastes. You will also not need to worry about hazardous waste management and any toxic waste storage issues.
You Can Become Eligible for Incentives
Federal and state governments have stepped up their effort to encourage solar power installation by using incentives and rebates. In California, you can enjoy the following top incentives for your solar panels and battery installation:
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Solar Access Rights
Nevada has a solar access law protecting our right to install and generate electricity using solar panels. No contract or legal document can prohibit a homeowner from installing solar with these regulations. The regulation also allows solar easement with neighbors to guarantee access to sunshine and continue enjoying the benefits of solar installation.
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Federal Solar Tax Credit
The federal solar tax credit is probably the most lucrative incentive that you can get for installing solar power batteries. With the Investment Tax Credit(ITC), you can reduce your solar installation cost by 26%. Therefore, you don't have to worry about the additional expenses of buying and installing solar batteries. The federal government will reimburse you for the costs to install the batteries.
No Noise Pollution
Unlike generators, solar panels battery storage don't create noise pollution that can disturb you or your neighbors. This can be a better benefit for anyone who currently has a generator if they update their power-backup with no noise pollutant.
Reduces Your Time-of-Use Rates
Across the U.S, utility companies have introduced a new residential rate structure designed to encourage energy consumption when the cost of generating electricity is cheap and discourage energy consumption when the cost of generating electricity is high. An excellent example of this kind of incentive is the Time-of-Use Plan. Your rates fluctuate depending on the day, season, and time with this plan. For instance, when the cost of generating costs is low, and demand is low, like early in the morning or middle of the night, the rates go lower. When both generating and demand costs are high, the rate is much higher.
With a solar battery storage system coupled with a smart control system, you can automatically manage your energy flow to maximize your solar benefit. Therefore, if you're on a Time-of-Use rate plan, your utility rate peak:
- Your home will be powered by the solar energy produced by the solar panels and stored in the battery.
- Excess solar energy of your system will be sent to the grid and maximize your net metering credit.
The actual reduction of your utility power bill depends on the utility rates, battery capacity, and usage. To give you an idea of how much you will reduce your utility power bill, here is a perfect example that will help you:
Assuming that you have one 13.5kWh battery and 100% charged and use 80% during the low-peak TOU timeframe, you can save up to $860 every year when using this plan. You can reduce your utility power bill further by installing several batteries and pushing excess solar energy to the grid during the TOU timeframe.
Reduces the Potential Costs of a Power Outage
Several reasons can cause a power outage. If you live in a place that experiences extreme weather events like hurricanes, snowstorms, and wildfires, a solar battery could help you reduce the potential cost of a power outage. To put things in perspective, the average cost of a power outage is as follows:
- $180 room heating.
- $200 - $13,000 for refrigerator loss.
- $130- $300 for food and perishable loss.
- $10,000 for flood damage when the sump pump isn't working.
Maximizes Your Net Metering Credit
Again, having a solar battery can help you maximize the amount of energy you'll be returning to the grid. With the net metering plan, you will be returning excess solar power to the utility grid, which offsets the electricity you will be taking from the utility. Therefore, you can enjoy the full economic advantage of your solar energy panels and battery.
Solar panels usually generate more power during the day. However, it is at the same time that most households use the least power. Therefore, you'll be producing more electricity than what you need.
The surplus can be sent to the grid when you have excess power generation. This is what's referred to as net metering. In net metering, your electric meter spins backward. Therefore, your utility company will apply a credit to your account.
When using electricity from the grid, your electric meter will spin forward at night. At the end, when your utility company will be billing you, the company will net the electricity you will have sent to their grid, which reduces your final bill.
So, how does a solar power battery bring an added advantage? By allowing you to send more power to the grid. With a solar power battery, you will be storing enough energy to reduce your power usage from the utility company, even when they expect the electric meter to spin forward. Therefore, you will be slowing down your utility power usage and sending more power to the grid. Things can't just get better than this.
Guarantees Energy Independence
There's something about going off-grid that brings inspiration and freedom of not relying on your local utility to provide power but generating your clean electricity. With the modern Lithium-ion battery technology, you no longer have a whole room dedicated to batteries. You also don't need to have large solar photovoltaic panels.
Modern solar panels and batteries also don't require adjusting to harsh weather conditions when not maximizing solar energy. Therefore, you can completely go off-grid while enjoying all these benefits without worrying about the ever-increasing electricity cost. Regardless of the numerous advantages of solar batteries, there are a few disadvantages of this installation. Some of the cons of implementing a solar battery system include:
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High Cost
Installing a solar panel is quite expensive, not alone installing a solar power battery. So, it does not make financial sense to some people, especially those with relatively low power usage. Therefore, before you decide to go solar, calculate the return to investment that you would achieve by coupling your solar system with solar batteries.
However, there are still some indications that the cost of installing power batteries will reduce like solar PV a few years ago. This will put you into a financial reach to buy them as they improve their cost-effectiveness.
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Complexity
The designing and installation of solar energy storage systems increase the complexity of the entire system. Therefore, more things can go wrong in the battery system's design, installation, and operation. However, with a reliable solar company, you can reduce issues related to these systems and enjoy the benefits of a solar power battery system in full.
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Lifespan
The lifespan of a solar battery can also be a significant disadvantage to installing them. Traditional lead-acid batteries can discharge to a maximum of 50%, while modern Lithium-ion batteries can discharge up to 80%. Therefore, you should expect to replace your batteries at least once during the solar PV lifetime.
Find a Reliable Solar Company Near Me
Are you unsure whether to install a solar battery system or not? Are you skeptical of the advantages that a solar battery system brings? At Sun Solar Electric, we got you covered. We are a professional solar company offering professional services to homeowners in Northern California and Bay Area. For any questions, please speak to us at 707-658-2157 for a free and detailed consultation.