Guide to Battery Storage for Solar PV

Solar electric panels are a popular technology with self-builders and renovators. Fundamentally, they transform daylight into useable energy – the idea being that you get to take advantage of a free renewable resource, and in doing so reduce your utility bills.

Uptake of the technology has been partially driven by the Feed In Tariff (FIT), which was introduced in 2010. The FIT pays out quarterly for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity a qualifying solar photovoltaic (PV) installation generates.

You can also sell any electricity you don’t use via the export tariff. The incentive, which lasts for 25 years, is designed to help offset the cost of installing an array.

However, it’s not always easy to make optimum use of solar-generated electricity – for reasons we’ll explore in a moment. This has led to a proliferation of research into battery storage solutions that aim to help you maximise solar resource.

The technology is developing rapidly, but is still relatively new. So is it worth considering for your home?

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What are the challenges for solar PV?

The crux of the issue is that photovoltaic panels can only generate power during daylight hours (and effectively only when the sun is well above the horizon). Cloud cover also reduces output substantially, and in winter the amount of electricity you can produce is very low.

What this means is that power isn’t produced when domestic demand for electricity is at its highest – ie in the morning, in the evening and during winter. Unless you’re at home on a bright day when there’s a good sunlight resource, and you are using the solar tech to run washing machines or other electrical appliances, you may not be able to take direct advantage of the power you’re generating.

A significant proportion of PV output would therefore be exported to the national grid. You will still receive the FIT for all the electricity you generate, plus a further payment for what’s sent to the grid. However, unless you have a suitable smart meter, the total amount of energy you can claim for under the export tariff is set at 50% of expected generation – irrespective of what percentage you actually use.

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