Table of Contents
We have all heard the countless benefits of using solar energy to power our houses, businesses, and equipment. It isn’t just one of the cleanest forms of energy being used today but also helps in significantly lowering energy bills.
However, one major drawback is the weather dependence. Since solar panels are dependent on sunlight to power them, they might not produce adequate energy during cloudy and rainy days and make none at all at night time.
This can become a serious issue since it’s mostly during the night that the lights are turned on and most household appliances, such as the dishwasher, are used.
That is where solar battery storage systems come in. You can easily store the electricity generated during the day in these batteries and use it absolutely whenever you want, regardless of whether the sun is shining or not.
Battery storage systems can be used with other forms of renewable energy as well, such as wind turbines, and can also be used on properties with no solar panels or wind turbines. However, in this article, we will be discussing battery systems powered by solar energy.
Read on to find out how solar battery storage systems work, their cost in the UK, whether they are worth it or not, and much more:
When using solar panels, what happens is that the excess electricity produced, when not consumed during the day, is sent back to the grid to be distributed further.
With solar batteries, the excess electricity is stored in them instead of sending it back to the grid. The amount of solar energy a battery can store depends on the capacity of the battery. The higher the capacity, the more energy it can store.
The additional energy is used to charge the batteries which, when the panels aren’t producing energy, can be used to power the lights, charge electric vehicles (EVs), and other electricity-dependent devices.
Electricity generated by the solar panels will be sent to the grid only when the battery is fully charged. You can enjoy the benefit of storing electricity for later use, send clean energy to the grid to play your part in a cleaner environment, and get paid for doing that.
In addition to all of that, battery storage systems can also be used as a back-up power source in the event of a power outage in your area.
The typical cost for solar battery storage systems in the UK ranges between £1,200 and £6,000 depending on the type of battery, its capacity, and life cycle.
The price might seem a bit high but, much like solar panels, solar batteries will also adopt the same price drop when the systems become more widespread. The trend is already showing as more and more people are investing in battery storage systems.
The two most commonly found batteries in solar panel systems are lithium-ion and lead-acid. Lithium-ion batteries are the more widely used ones, despite their higher estimated price, due to their cost-effectiveness, longer lifespan, and higher capacity.
Here are a few estimated costs of lithium-ion batteries based on their usable capacity:
Many factors affect the cost of solar battery storage systems. They include:
As discussed above, the two main types of battery materials used are lithium-ion and lead-acid. Both have a different impact on the way the battery functions with a different discharge rate and general lifespan. Lithium-ion batteries are pricier than lead-acid but have also proven to be more cost-effective, making them more widespread despite their higher associated costs.
The capacity of a battery is measured in kWh and divided into storage capacity and usable capacity, where the storage capacity refers to the amount of energy the battery can store, and the usable capacity referring to the amount of energy that can be used. The amount of capacity directly influences the total cost with a higher capacity resulting in a higher cost.
The lifespan of the battery is determined by its life cycle, with more cycles resulting in a longer lifespan. Lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries have different lifespans, with lithium-ion performing longer than lead-acid and, therefore, costing more.
Proper installation is crucial to any system and greatly determines how efficiently it will work. The installation costs depend on the type of solar battery being installed, the size of the battery, and any additional costs that may incur.
Using solar batteries with solar panel systems is a relatively new concept, albeit an effective one. Here’s why you need a solar battery system:
One of the biggest benefits of using solar batteries, through which you can enjoy the rest of the benefits, is storing the energy produced during the daytime to make it readily available for later use.
This will not only solve the sunlight-dependency problem associated with solar energy but also enable your property to run on 100% renewable energy 24/7, as long as the demand doesn’t exceed the supply and capacity of the battery.
Solar battery storage systems can significantly reduce the energy costs by charging it during off-peak hours and discharging during peak hours. This way, you can avoid paying huge electricity bills by not relying on the grid.
In addition to lowering your energy costs, solar batteries can help you earn money. After charging the battery to its full capacity, you can sell the excess energy to the grid and earn money off if it.
This helps you become an active contributor to a more sustainable environment along with getting paid for your services.
Installing solar panels coupled with a solar battery will help you produce your own energy and become independent from your utility company.
You will never have to worry about power shutdowns and neither will you ever have to rely on the grid to provide you with electricity.
Obviously, all this would be possible only if your panels provide you with adequate electricity and the batteries have enough storage to accommodate your needs.
Now that you know how solar batteries work, how much they cost, and their benefits, is it worth it to use them? Are their costs justified? Let’s find out:
Solar batteries can be used in all kinds of residential, commercial, and industrial properties. However, there are certain types of properties that they suit more, depending on the size of the solar panel system, their energy consumption, and the pattern in which it is consumed.
The first factor that will determine whether a solar battery will be worth it for you or not is the size of your solar panel system and the amount of energy it produces.
If your existing solar power system is small, with very little excess energy to be fed to a battery, investing in one won’t make much practical sense.
If you have more than enough electricity produced during the day, with excess electricity going back to the grid, then the solar battery option is definitely worth considering.
A solar battery’s average lifespan is around 5 to 7.5 years for lead-acid batteries and 11 to 15 years for lithium-ion ones. Considering that the typical lifespan of solar panels is around 15 to 30 years, the batteries might have to be replaced several times throughout the system’s life.
Also, all batteries are susceptible to vulnerabilities and general wear and tear, and solar batteries are no different. If overcharged or exposed to extreme temperatures, they might deteriorate faster than usual.
All in all, considering the advantages and huge cost savings when it comes to using solar battery storage systems, it is safe to say that their costs are justified and they more than make up for them if implemented and used effectively and efficiently.
In addition to the financial benefits and cost savings of using solar batteries, it is worth mentioning that for many people, the decision to invest in solar power systems and batteries is to become less dependent on electricity suppliers and reduce their carbon footprint by contributing to clean energy and investing in the planet’s future.
To use a solar battery and set up a solar panel system, you require a few components that make up the system. They are:
Solar cells – a collection of which make up the solar panels – are the main component of a solar power system. They are what create electrical energy when exposed to sunlight.
The amount of energy that the panels output fluctuates throughout the day due to the sun moving and the system receiving varying levels of sunlight. The charge controller regulates the power produced by the solar panels with the right voltage and current to ensure efficient battery charging.
Power from the solar panels is sent to the battery via the charge controller. The battery stores the energy, depending on its capacity, to be used at a later time.
Many electrical systems and devices in a typical residential and commercial property use alternating current power (AC). Since the solar cells and batteries provide direct current (DC), a power inverter is required to convert the DC power from the solar power system to AC, making it suitable to be used with various electrical components.
It is detrimental to the health and effectiveness of the battery storage system to be installed by a certified professional who knows their job well.
The inability to install it correctly can pose a serious threat to residential and commercial properties in terms of electric shocks, fires, burns, and explosions, which is why it is best to minimise risk and seek professional installation services.
The systems can be mounted on a wall, kept standing on the floor, placed inside, or installed outside.
If the system is designed to be installed outside, it needs to be weatherproof and able to withstand harsh weather conditions such as heat, rain, and snow.
Outside installation includes access for electrical wiring to be laid out and an area not under direct sunlight or near heat to avoid the system from overheating.
Ventilation is a major factor to consider when installing both inside or outside, and it is recommended that the system not be placed in a habitable room such as a bedroom or living room, or areas of work such as offices in a commercial setting.
It is best to discuss these key installation points with your certified electrician to get a professional opinion based on your particular requirements.
In today’s world, we are always trying to find new ways to reduce our energy consumption to help us lower our bills whilst also reducing our carbon footprint.
Calder Electrical services provide a wide range of solutions to help you play your part in making the world a more sustainable place. Our energy-saving services include:
If you already have solar panels or a wind turbine installed in your residential or commercial premises, installing a battery storage system could help maximise the benefits of making your own energy.
We can assess the amount your solar panels produce and install enough battery storage so that you can minimise any wastage of the energy you create. This will help lower your energy bills and make you more independent from using energy from the grid.
If you are looking to install a smart heating controller such as a Nest, Hive, Honeywell Evohome, Drayton Wiser, or a wireless thermostat to help manage your heating and hot water, we can help you choose the best system for your needs.
We can design, plan, and install a smart home system that will control the lighting, power, audio, and visuals with systems such as Loxone, Lutron, Control4, and KNX, allowing you to take control of your property from anywhere in the world.
LED bulbs already provide considerable savings due to their great energy-saving technology, and we can help lower the maintenance cost even further by offering fittings with 3-5+ year warranties.
Our team of experts can survey and assess your property to create a lighting design to see how we can make the installations more efficient so that the lighting level is comfortable and best suited to your needs, normally aiming for a 40% saving.
We have experienced and fully qualified electrical engineers on hand to deliver a professional and high-quality service which is fully insured and certified.
We have been undertaking electrical work since 1976 and have plenty of experience in all aspects of electrical work.
If you would like more information on our energy-saving solutions for your home or business, please get in touch with our team of experts. Contact us here or call us on 0800 612 3001.
We have all heard the countless benefits of using solar energy to power our houses, businesses, and equipment. It isn’t just one of the cleanest forms of energy being used today but also helps in significantly lowering energy bills.
However, one major drawback is the weather dependence. Since solar panels are dependent on sunlight to power them, they might not produce adequate energy during cloudy and rainy days and make none at all at night time.
This can become a serious issue since it’s mostly during the night that the lights are turned on and most household appliances, such as the dishwasher, are used.
That is where solar battery storage systems come in. You can easily store the electricity generated during the day in these batteries and use it absolutely whenever you want, regardless of whether the sun is shining or not.
Battery storage systems can be used with other forms of renewable energy as well, such as wind turbines, and can also be used on properties with no solar panels or wind turbines. However, in this article, we will be discussing battery systems powered by solar energy.
Read on to find out how solar battery storage systems work, their cost in the UK, whether they are worth it or not, and much more:
When using solar panels, what happens is that the excess electricity produced, when not consumed during the day, is sent back to the grid to be distributed further.
With solar batteries, the excess electricity is stored in them instead of sending it back to the grid. The amount of solar energy a battery can store depends on the capacity of the battery. The higher the capacity, the more energy it can store.
The additional energy is used to charge the batteries which, when the panels aren’t producing energy, can be used to power the lights, charge electric vehicles (EVs), and other electricity-dependent devices.
Electricity generated by the solar panels will be sent to the grid only when the battery is fully charged. You can enjoy the benefit of storing electricity for later use, send clean energy to the grid to play your part in a cleaner environment, and get paid for doing that.
In addition to all of that, battery storage systems can also be used as a back-up power source in the event of a power outage in your area.
The typical cost for solar battery storage systems in the UK ranges between £1,200 and £6,000 depending on the type of battery, its capacity, and life cycle.
The price might seem a bit high but, much like solar panels, solar batteries will also adopt the same price drop when the systems become more widespread. The trend is already showing as more and more people are investing in battery storage systems.
The two most commonly found batteries in solar panel systems are lithium-ion and lead-acid. Lithium-ion batteries are the more widely used ones, despite their higher estimated price, due to their cost-effectiveness, longer lifespan, and higher capacity.
Here are a few estimated costs of lithium-ion batteries based on their usable capacity:
Many factors affect the cost of solar battery storage systems. They include:
As discussed above, the two main types of battery materials used are lithium-ion and lead-acid. Both have a different impact on the way the battery functions with a different discharge rate and general lifespan. Lithium-ion batteries are pricier than lead-acid but have also proven to be more cost-effective, making them more widespread despite their higher associated costs.
The capacity of a battery is measured in kWh and divided into storage capacity and usable capacity, where the storage capacity refers to the amount of energy the battery can store, and the usable capacity referring to the amount of energy that can be used. The amount of capacity directly influences the total cost with a higher capacity resulting in a higher cost.
The lifespan of the battery is determined by its life cycle, with more cycles resulting in a longer lifespan. Lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries have different lifespans, with lithium-ion performing longer than lead-acid and, therefore, costing more.
Proper installation is crucial to any system and greatly determines how efficiently it will work. The installation costs depend on the type of solar battery being installed, the size of the battery, and any additional costs that may incur.
Using solar batteries with solar panel systems is a relatively new concept, albeit an effective one. Here’s why you need a solar battery system:
One of the biggest benefits of using solar batteries, through which you can enjoy the rest of the benefits, is storing the energy produced during the daytime to make it readily available for later use.
This will not only solve the sunlight-dependency problem associated with solar energy but also enable your property to run on 100% renewable energy 24/7, as long as the demand doesn’t exceed the supply and capacity of the battery.
Solar battery storage systems can significantly reduce the energy costs by charging it during off-peak hours and discharging during peak hours. This way, you can avoid paying huge electricity bills by not relying on the grid.
In addition to lowering your energy costs, solar batteries can help you earn money. After charging the battery to its full capacity, you can sell the excess energy to the grid and earn money off if it.
This helps you become an active contributor to a more sustainable environment along with getting paid for your services.
Installing solar panels coupled with a solar battery will help you produce your own energy and become independent from your utility company.
You will never have to worry about power shutdowns and neither will you ever have to rely on the grid to provide you with electricity.
Obviously, all this would be possible only if your panels provide you with adequate electricity and the batteries have enough storage to accommodate your needs.
Now that you know how solar batteries work, how much they cost, and their benefits, is it worth it to use them? Are their costs justified? Let’s find out:
Solar batteries can be used in all kinds of residential, commercial, and industrial properties. However, there are certain types of properties that they suit more, depending on the size of the solar panel system, their energy consumption, and the pattern in which it is consumed.
The first factor that will determine whether a solar battery will be worth it for you or not is the size of your solar panel system and the amount of energy it produces.
If your existing solar power system is small, with very little excess energy to be fed to a battery, investing in one won’t make much practical sense.
If you have more than enough electricity produced during the day, with excess electricity going back to the grid, then the solar battery option is definitely worth considering.
A solar battery’s average lifespan is around 5 to 7.5 years for lead-acid batteries and 11 to 15 years for lithium-ion ones. Considering that the typical lifespan of solar panels is around 15 to 30 years, the batteries might have to be replaced several times throughout the system’s life.
Also, all batteries are susceptible to vulnerabilities and general wear and tear, and solar batteries are no different. If overcharged or exposed to extreme temperatures, they might deteriorate faster than usual.
All in all, considering the advantages and huge cost savings when it comes to using solar battery storage systems, it is safe to say that their costs are justified and they more than make up for them if implemented and used effectively and efficiently.
In addition to the financial benefits and cost savings of using solar batteries, it is worth mentioning that for many people, the decision to invest in solar power systems and batteries is to become less dependent on electricity suppliers and reduce their carbon footprint by contributing to clean energy and investing in the planet’s future.
To use a solar battery and set up a solar panel system, you require a few components that make up the system. They are:
Solar cells – a collection of which make up the solar panels – are the main component of a solar power system. They are what create electrical energy when exposed to sunlight.
The amount of energy that the panels output fluctuates throughout the day due to the sun moving and the system receiving varying levels of sunlight. The charge controller regulates the power produced by the solar panels with the right voltage and current to ensure efficient battery charging.
Power from the solar panels is sent to the battery via the charge controller. The battery stores the energy, depending on its capacity, to be used at a later time.
Many electrical systems and devices in a typical residential and commercial property use alternating current power (AC). Since the solar cells and batteries provide direct current (DC), a power inverter is required to convert the DC power from the solar power system to AC, making it suitable to be used with various electrical components.
It is detrimental to the health and effectiveness of the battery storage system to be installed by a certified professional who knows their job well.
The inability to install it correctly can pose a serious threat to residential and commercial properties in terms of electric shocks, fires, burns, and explosions, which is why it is best to minimise risk and seek professional installation services.
The systems can be mounted on a wall, kept standing on the floor, placed inside, or installed outside.
If the system is designed to be installed outside, it needs to be weatherproof and able to withstand harsh weather conditions such as heat, rain, and snow.
Outside installation includes access for electrical wiring to be laid out and an area not under direct sunlight or near heat to avoid the system from overheating.
Ventilation is a major factor to consider when installing both inside or outside, and it is recommended that the system not be placed in a habitable room such as a bedroom or living room, or areas of work such as offices in a commercial setting.
It is best to discuss these key installation points with your certified electrician to get a professional opinion based on your particular requirements.
In today’s world, we are always trying to find new ways to reduce our energy consumption to help us lower our bills whilst also reducing our carbon footprint.
Calder Electrical services provide a wide range of solutions to help you play your part in making the world a more sustainable place. Our energy-saving services include:
If you already have solar panels or a wind turbine installed in your residential or commercial premises, installing a battery storage system could help maximise the benefits of making your own energy.
We can assess the amount your solar panels produce and install enough battery storage so that you can minimise any wastage of the energy you create. This will help lower your energy bills and make you more independent from using energy from the grid.
If you are looking to install a smart heating controller such as a Nest, Hive, Honeywell Evohome, Drayton Wiser, or a wireless thermostat to help manage your heating and hot water, we can help you choose the best system for your needs.
We can design, plan, and install a smart home system that will control the lighting, power, audio, and visuals with systems such as Loxone, Lutron, Control4, and KNX, allowing you to take control of your property from anywhere in the world.
LED bulbs already provide considerable savings due to their great energy-saving technology, and we can help lower the maintenance cost even further by offering fittings with 3-5+ year warranties.
Our team of experts can survey and assess your property to create a lighting design to see how we can make the installations more efficient so that the lighting level is comfortable and best suited to your needs, normally aiming for a 40% saving.
We have experienced and fully qualified electrical engineers on hand to deliver a professional and high-quality service which is fully insured and certified.
We have been undertaking electrical work since 1976 and have plenty of experience in all aspects of electrical work.
If you would like more information on our energy-saving solutions for your home or business, please get in touch with our team of experts. Contact us here or call us on 0800 612 3001.
