For those of us lucky enough to be enjoying the unprecedented growth of the solar industry, we have continually been stuck when the prospect raises the objection “what do we do when the sun’s not shining?” Since the demise of feed-in tariffs throughout Australia, PV systems have been sized to offset the customer’s consumption during the sunlight hours.
Now at last we can design a system to incorporate solar batteries. So Energis now designs the system to offset the energy consumption during the sunlight hours plus they add enough extra solar panels to act as a battery charger.
Back in the early to mid 2000s, all PV systems installed in Australia were standalone systems using a solar battery bank. These batteries were generally 2 volts each, requiring 24 of them to make up a 12, 24 or 48 volt system. They were heavy, dangerous and required a regulated battery enclosure to prevent unauthorised access by vermin or humans. In addition they emitted dangerous fumes and required continual monitoring and maintenance.
During the late 2000s and early 2010s, most solar power installed was connected to the grid. Generous government incentives enticed thousands of Australians to install solar. The Renewable Energy Target also forced the utilities to offer generous feed-in tariffs. Now we could all benefit by feeding our excess power into the grid – many were able to receive a credit for their energy bill.
There was not a requirement for a solar power battery whilst the feed-in tariffs existed.
In the last year or two, some of the short-lived feed-in tariffs have disappeared and newcomers to solar have only their sunlight-hours consumption to offset to maximise their savings. No longer could an honest salesperson say “we can wipe out your bill”. Clearly they could not offset the consumption during the dark hours.
However we have been saved with the advent of Lithium Ion and Zinc Bromide batteries. These are small, compact, fully sealed and maintenance-free. The most famous of these are the Tesla batteries which also power their fleet of passenger cars. Tesla batteries are available in modules of 7-10kWhs.
Now the manufacturing of compact, safe batteries suitable to use as solar battery building blocks, has scaled up, we can look forward to an unprecedented take up by both current solar generators and new customers. The prices have already fallen dramatically and are now approaching figures that are affordable by all, with pay-back periods less than 10 years. Use Energis’s energy storage calculator to determine the system size for you.
If you do not have the cash-flow to be able to fund the capital outlay, Energis can organise painless finance for you in which you can make the repayments out of the money you save on your power bills each month. At the end of the finance term, the system is yours.
Please call Energis today on 1300 782 217 for a free solar appraisal of your premises. We’ll be delighted to ensure you’re ‘battery ready’ with your solar PV system.
