What Is a Solar Power Home Battery?
If you’re thinking about installing solar panels in your California home, or you already have them installed, a great next step is adding a home solar battery system. But what is home battery storage? It’s just that; a solar energy backup battery system for your home that stores excess solar energy you can use for later.
How does home solar battery storage work?
Solar panels
As in the solar panel process, sunlight is collected through solar panels and sent to the inverter where it is converted to energy for your home.
Powering Your Home
The energy produced from your system will power your home throughout the day when the sun is shining. The excess energy your system creates will charge your home solar battery bank.
Storage
The excess energy gets stored in the solar battery for later use.
Enjoy
The excess solar energy you produced is ready to use when the sun isn't shining and you aren’t producing power.
Perks of residential solar battery storage
When you have a battery backup system for your home’s solar energy, you can use it during a natural disaster or a blackout power outage. The traditional alternative during a disaster would be relying on a standard diesel generator which costs extra money to fuel and maintain and is a source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Another perk of having a solar battery for your home is avoiding peak energy rates. When your system is producing more electricity than your home is using, your battery can store the excess instead of sending it back to your utility for the low off-peak credit rates. Then, during evening peak pricing when the sun isn't shining, you can draw your own stored energy from your battery and avoid paying peak rates. Additionally, most utility companies give you credits for your excess solar production called net metering. Some utility companies can offer additional incentives for going solar with a battery. States like California have tax incentives for installing home solar panels and battery storage because of solar’s ability to cut back on pollution.
Can you go off-grid with solar batteries?
Going “off-grid” implies that you’re using solar energy to power your home 100% of the time, and therefore cutting ties with your utility company. By doing this, you would lose the ability to purchase electricity from your utility in low sunlight periods and earn credits for your excess energy that you send to the grid for net metering. Additionally, going off grid requires multiple batteries and is often more expensive than staying connected to the grid. But while it does make sense to keep your solar+battery home connected to the grid, you can have confidence that if the grid does go down, your battery backup will kick in and you won't miss a beat.
Can solar batteries power your home?
Yes, solar batteries can be used to power your home. One thing to keep in mind, a single battery will power your critical backup loads for a few hours. You can add more than one battery to backup your home for longer. That’s why in most cases, it makes sense to stay connected to the electric grid even if you have a solar battery home system.
Install a Sungevity solar battery for your home now
If you’re ready to install a solar battery backup system for your home, get started with us today! Contact our experts at Sungevity, offering solar battery storage for your home in California.
