You might be wondering how to find the best type of solar battery suitable for your need.
There are 4 types of solar batteries mostly available in the market – Lead Acid, Lithium-ion, Flow, and Sodium Nickel Chloride. Due to their long life, high discharge, and recharge rate, Lithium-ion is widely used batteries of all.
There are 4 factors that you must check before buying a battery like power, capacity, Depth Of Discharge (DoD), and Round trip efficiency.
In this article, you are going to read about different types of solar batteries and their functions, working on solar batteries, steps to find the best suited solar battery.
Types of Solar Battery – All You Need To Know
Solar batteries are very useful when it comes to storing solar energy. Their working is similar to those of a normal battery but they do differ on the power capacity.
Are Solar Batteries Worth It
Solar batteries are designed in a different way as compared to normal batteries. They have certain chemicals to make the most out of solar power.
Most of the US houses use 1 or more batteries to have a small amount of power backup in power outrage. However, going completely off-grid requires tons of batteries.
Normally solar batteries use some kind of Lithium product. They have a life span of more than 10 years. With the right amount of solar panel, your total solar costing will be covered within 2-3 years. After this time, you will continue to get free electricity without any hassle.
If you are planning to get a solar system for your home, a solar battery could be handy. They will have high efficiency and a good life span with solar panels.
Working Of Solar Batteries Explained
Solar batteries work by storing energy for later use. In the daytime, a solar battery stores energy through solar panels and uses it in the night.
In a few cases, solar batteries have their own inverters to use as an integrated solution.
When you install a solar battery, you are able to store excess power in the battery. In the daytime, when your solar panel is producing excess power then you need, you can store this power in the battery. Later, when your solar panels are not producing power, you can draw this power to store it at the night.
You will also be able to get power in case of a power outage.
Read here the major power outage in the history of America.
Is Install A Solar Battery System Beneficial?
Your money-saving depends upon the type of compensation you get. Most of the utilities offer net meter. This means you will save a dollar on every Kilo-watts of energy you send to the grid. However, installing a solar battery will not help you in saving electricity directly.
But you can power a few lights through the solar battery and could save money indirectly.
Whatever the means you choose, saving money is always there.
Types Of Solar Batteries Available In The Market
There are 4 main types of solar batteries available:-
1. Lead Acid
These batteries are boring, ugly, and bulky. They are replaced by advanced technology batteries with batter life span and longer warranties as solar power becomes more popular.
2. Lithium-ion
According to the US Solar energy monitor report, nearly 70% of total energy storage is done on Lithium-ion batteries regardless of applications.
They have a wide range of applications like – smartphones, power tools, and electronic vehicles. Lithium-ion provides more charge and discharge cycles as compared to lead batteries.
Lithium batteries are lighter and can be mounted and located indoors. They are solid and do not require refills or maintenance.
3. Flow Batteries
These batteries are new entrants to the marketplace. Their use in long-duration storage is growing slowly.
They use a liquid-based electrolyte. These electrolytes liquid is separated by a membrane to prevent them from shorting. They are slightly on the high-cost side.
Read More – Flow Battery
Due to their longer charge holding capacity and little maintenance, they will be well popular in the future.
4. Nickel Batteries
Their variations have been around since the 1900s. They might not have the power then its counterpart however they have longer life without a complex system.
Nickel Batteries are really cheap as compared to other batteries. They have a very long life cycle. Some companies provide as much as 20 years of experience.
How To Choose Best Type Of Solar Battery
Choosing a light that fits you could be difficult sometimes.
However, if you follow the steps below, you will never face the problem in the future.
1. Size Of Battery
This is the one thing that is overlooked by installers and users. Most of the time, batteries are undersized due to cost or systems loads are underestimated. It is very important to know user power need and plan accordingly.
There are many online calculators and software that can simplify this process.
2. Cost Of Ownership
Low cost often attracts people. But if the low cost affects the quality and rating of battery then it should not be done. You can go for slightly higher prices if the battery life is not good. This could save you a lot of money in the long run.
3. Battery Capacity
Capacity plays an important role in determining the quality, price, and need for a battery. If you purchase lower capacity battery then you will often struggle with power. However, buying a high capacity battery means a waste of money.
Make sure to calculate your power requirement then decide to purchase the battery.
4. Round Trip Efficiency
Round trip efficiency means the amount of charge that you get as an output. It is compared with an input value and measured in percentage (%).
If you feed 5 kWh of electricity and can only get 4 kWh of electricity as an output, then it is 80% efficiency.
A higher round trip battery means better value for money.
5. Battery Life And Warranty
The charge holding capacity of the battery will decrease over time. You can think of a solar battery like your mobile battery. You might have noticed the decrease in the rating of the battery over time.
Your solar battery will have a warranty which guaranty a certain no. of cycles and years of useful life. They will also guaranty an amount of charge over the course of time.
Top 5 Benefit Of Solar Battery
Installing a solar battery is one of the best ways to conserve the energy of further use. Here are the top 5 advantages of Solar Battery
1. Power When Required
One of the biggest problems with Solar panels is that they produce power when you do not need it. This can be overcome with the use of solar batteries. These batteries can store the power to be used at the night.
These solar batteries can be handy in cloudy seasons as well.
2. Lights Up In Difficult Times
The ability to store energy allows you to be less dependent on the grid power source.
If you are staying in areas where there are frequent blackouts then the solar battery can insulate you from this. This is great for the people looking to get off the grid.
3. Better For Environment
Most of the electricity produced today use coal or fossil fuel. These are very harmful to the environment and produce toxic gases like Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases. These gases result in global warming.
A better alternative is to use renewable sources of energy like – Solar. They don’t produce any toxic gas and hence do not harm our environment.
4. Lower Electricity Bills
If you always saw sky-high electricity bills then solar power can rescue you in this.
Installing a solar power system with solar battery can reduce your monthly electricity bill. Whether you choose to get on-grid or off-grid, you can see a sharp drop in your monthly electricity bills.
Final Thoughts
There are mainly 4 types of solar battery available. Of them, Lithium-ion is the most famous and widely used solar battery.
However, you still have to consider a few pointers before choosing the right kind of battery.
A solar system will not only help the environment but also benefit you financially. If you are looking to buy a solar battery you could check this for the best solar battery.
Over To You
I hope you have enjoyed the post.
If you still have any doubts, let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you.
