As electricians who have installed countless residential solar systems across the Adelaide metro area over the past decade, one solution we’re increasingly recommending is incorporating battery storage. While traditional solar PV (photovoltaic) arrays provide tremendous benefits through renewable energy generation and utility savings, adding batteries takes those advantages to the next level. Battery storage, combined with your solar array, serves as a powerful energy backup while maximising return on your solar investment. Here are the key reasons why solar battery installations make so much sense for Adelaide homeowners.
Energy security and backup power
Power outages and blackouts, whether from severe storms, utilities issues or other disruptions, are an inevitable reality – even with our increased renewable generation preventing them altogether. However, with a solar battery bank integrated into your system, your home’s power can literally keep on running when the grid fails.
During an outage, the batteries supply electricity to operate your home’s essential circuits like lighting, internet/wi-fi, refrigerator, medical equipment and more for many hours until service is restored. Most batteries provide between 7-14kWh of electricity storage, buying peace of mind electrical resiliency for your family.
Maximum solar utilisation
One of the biggest drawbacks of solar PV systems without batteries is that any excess electricity generated goes out to the utility grid – often for low feed-in tariff credit. With a battery bank, that excess solar energy instead charges the batteries for you to utilise that free renewable power later in the day or evening. This drastically increases your solar self-consumption rate and savings.
Store low-cost electricity
Furthermore, many utility companies offer lower “time of use” electricity rates overnight. With batteries, you can charge them when rates are cheapest, then discharge that low-cost stored energy to meet peak horsepower needs instead of paying a premium. This arbitrage capability maximises long-term utility savings.
Go off-grid (optionally)
For homeowners interested in true energy independence, solar battery systems open the door to taking your property entirely off the utility grid if desired. While costly upfront for most, sufficient battery capacity combined with solar can run your home’s electrical needs indefinitely.
Backup use cases:
- Power through blackouts
- Emergencies/disasters
- Camping or remote power
- Supplemental off-peak rate storage
Environmentally-friendly
Since solar batteries store renewable energy for later use, no additional carbon emissions are created like generator fossil fuel combustion. As a clean energy storage solution, batteries align perfectly with reducing your home’s environmental impact.
Battery technology options
The two primary battery chemistries we install are lead-acid and lithium-ion. Lead-acid batteries (like Tesla Powerwall) are more affordable upfront but require larger footprints and replacement every 5-10 years. Lithium-ion batteries are pricier but last 10-15 years, are more compact and provide more discharge cycles.
When combined with Adelaide’s abundant sunshine and increasingly affordable battery technology, solar installations are rapidly becoming comprehensive renewable microgrids. This enables homes to truly maximise their clean energy potential and self-sufficiency compared to solar alone.
As electricians, we take a consultative approach with each customer to analyze their daily power needs, existing solar array capacity, budget and goals for resiliency/savings/independence. This allows me to design and install the appropriately-sized solar battery system to meet their unique requirements seamlessly. Proper integration from solar array to inverters, charge controllers and distribution panels is critical.
With batteries, your solar investment protects you from future utility rate hikes while ensuring your home stays powered indefinitely through any outage or situation. Environmentally conscious homeowners appreciate the reduced emissions and energy security. Tech-savvy clients love the energy monitoring opportunities.
Conclusion
For Adelaide properties looking to take energy self-reliance into their own hands through clean, renewable microgrids, solar battery storage is the key final piece. Have a candid discussion with your local electrician to design a solar+battery solution providing resilient, sustainable power fitted perfectly for your home’s needs.
