There’s no two ways about it, being able to store green energy makes a lot of sense if you have a solar energy system that gives you a large enough yield. Solar batteries are a home improvement that allow you to store the electricity you produce and use it during the darker times (after sunset – before sunrise and winter months). That said, it’s a much newer technology than solar panels themselves so let’s look at what we do know.
Energy Independence (and Saving Money)
The good thing about going green is that there is a significant pay off outside doing good for the environment. Solar panel systems allow us increased energy independence and they save us money. If you’re interested in going off-grid, solar batteries are very much a step in the right direction. The harder our solar systems work, the more we save and batteries enable our solar panel systems to work … even when they’re not.
Soon, we hope, we will also be in the position to start selling our excess energy back to the grid so if you don’t have a battery or you’re producing more than you need you’ll be able to offload it for a fee. You can read our blog ‘Selling Your Excess Solar Panel Energy Back to the Grid’ for more information.
The Costs Short- and Long-Term
As with most new technology an investment is required and solar batteries aren’t cheap. The average battery can cost between€1,200 and €12,000 with the payback period being the region of 6-12years. While these figures will vary significantly depending on a number of variables such as size, type and brand, your battery, while likely to pay for itself, won’t do so quite as quickly as your solar panels (you can read our blog about that here.)
Solar Battery Rebates
To soften the blow on cost a little and to actively encourage people to make a new technology investment on a residential level, there are government backed grants in place through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). We’ve written about the current grants available in our blog ‘2021 Grants for Solar Panels in Ireland’
Choosing a Solar Battery
There are different battery types on the market available. It’s important that you choose the right one for you as there are differences in strength, longevity and cost. You can read more about this in our blog ‘What Is the Life Expectancy of a Solar Battery?’ but a good advisor will always be able to guide your decision.
The Verdict
It’s all quite positive really. While you won’t make huge savings on the battery itself, it does allow you to indirectly save if it’s a suitable product to install alongside your solar panel system. It should cover its own cost over its lifespan, enable your solar panels to work harder and give you a lot more energy independence.
If you’re interested to learn whether or not you should incorporate a battery into your current or new solar panel system get in touch here.
Three suggested blogs we think you might find interesting after reading this.
Selling Your Excess Solar Panel Energy Back to the Grid
