At Excel Electrical we specialise in helping you choose the right battery storage for solar power solution, and installing the battery in your home or place of business – quickly, efficiently, and keeping disruption to a minimum.
An energy-storage system, also called a home or solar battery, lets you capture electricity so you can use it at another time. For example, battery storage for solar power allows you to store the electricity your solar panels generate during the day, and use it after dark.
This relatively new technology may be worth considering if you generate your own energy at home with photovoltaic solar panels (Solar PVs), but find that your electricity consumption is higher at night. You might need to charge an electric vehicle ready to drive to work, or run the washing machine so you can hang the laundry out to dry in the morning.
If you have a Solar PV system or are planning to install one, storing the electricity your system has generated in a battery will help you to maximise the amount of renewable energy you use.
Battery storage for solar power will reduce the electricity you use from the grid, and bring down your energy bills. If your home is off-grid, battery storage can help reduce your use of back-up generators.
Even without solar panels, a battery will help you to take maximum advantage of time-of-use tariffs. A home battery will let you store electricity while it’s cheap (overnight, for example) so you can use it during peak times.
Battery storage for solar power is still on the pricey side, but we expect to see prices fall as more of them come onto the market. While there are currently no grants available for home battery installation, there is funding available for other components of a home electricity generation system. As part of a Solar PV system, battery storage for solar power can be a sensible add-on.
According to GreenMatch, a typical battery storage system costs between £1200 and £6000, and has a lifespan of between five and 15 years.
The average home uses around 8kWh of electricity every day. The capacity of new lithium-ion batteries ranges from around 3kWh up to as much as 13.5kWh. Ideally, you want a battery that will cover your evening and night-time electricity usage, ready to be charged up again the following day. You’ll also need to bear in mind how much your Solar PV system can generate, as there’s no point buying a battery that’s bigger than the system can fill.
