- 1300 796 076
- admin@asolari.com.au
- Mon - Fri: 8am-4pm
Solar Power Batteries for
Properties Connected to the Grid?
Battery Storage Solutions!
Looking to store your solar energy and use it during peak times? Yes, we can provide solar battery storage solutions for homes and businesses throughout New South Wales and Queensland.
BUT…
We strongly suggest that if you want to save money you are better off NOT installing a battery!
Yes you read that right!
Solar batteries are not the best solution unless you are in a rural location or want to live off grid.
The Case Against Batteries
Looking at various usage and financial scenarios when a battery storage system is added to your solar project, none of them make financial sense. In most cases the battery would not pay for itself during the expected lifetime of the product. That means, if your main goal is to make a financial return from your solar project, you are better off just installing a grid connected solar system and using grid-power during the evenings and nights.
The solar battery backup is linked to the power grid, meaning that energy costs are not only saved in that one property, but the benefits are also shared with the wider population, as transmission and distribution costs are reduced with each installation.
Getting Down and Dirty with Dollars
All electricity retailers such as Origin, AGL, Energy Australia etc are in business to sell as many KWHs (kilo watt hours) as they possibly can. They charge you around 26c/KWH to purchase electricity from them, and then offer to buy the excess solar energy your system generates at say 16c/KWH. This means the difference between the two prices is 10c.
So let’s see how this works out in practical terms…
If you purchased a 10KWH battery to store some of the excess power your panels captured during the day and use this stored free solar power in the battery for use at night, you would be saving 26c x 10KWHs, which is approx. $2.60 / day or up to $949 / year.
Now if the battery costs $9,000 fully installed, the return on your investment is $9,000 / $949 = 9.5 years. This means it takes you 9.5 years to break even or re-coup your money.
Most quality batteries such as LG Chem come with a 10 year warranty (depending on the cycles used i.e how many times per day the battery is charged & discharged).
But it doesn’t end there… the other half of the equation is that you need to consider that without a battery you would have sent the excess power back to the grid for 16c/KWH. This means that the REAL VALUE of the battery is only 10c/KWH – the difference between 26c & 16c.
So realistically, by having a battery, you are only saving 10KWH x 10c/KWH = $1 / day x 365 days / year = $365. This means your return on investment (R.O.I) basically blows out to $9000 / $365 = 24 years. And of course, if you borrow the $9000 to purchase the battery you need to add in the credit cost as well.
(This scenario is based on a generous feed in tariff of 16c/KWH and obviously gets worse with a smaller feed in tariff.)
Sorry to burst your bubble folks, but if you’re wanting to save money then getting a solar battery is NOT the way to do it! It may be in the future when batteries are much, much cheaper. So hang onto your dollars until then.
What if you need a 24 hour uninterrupted power supply?
You may have a medical condition that requires a guaranteed uninterrupted power supply. While having a battery to store your excess solar and use it at night is definitely workable, the best idea from a financial perspective is to buy a cheap, good quality, pure sine wave petrol generator.
When should you buy a battery for your solar system?
In 2021 there`s no financial value in buying a battery. Wait until the cost comes down even further, and then do your sums.
Of course, if you live in a rural area where there are issues with a steady supply of electricity, or it is too expensive to connect to the grid, then solar batteries are not only brilliant but essential.