Solar Batteries are compatible with any existing solar system and are connected directly to your meter board where we install a system hub that connects your house to the cloud for advanced system monitoring and management. Solaray Energy Management Systems come with home automation capabilities built-in, and they are fully compatible with micro-grids once they come online over the next few years.
Off-Grid vs Grid Connected
Many customers ask us about batteries so that they can go ‘Off-Grid’. Whilst we all appreciate how great it would be to not have any more power bills, this is not practical for almost all homes.
The basic concept behind the use of a combined solar and battery system is that the batteries are charged by solar panels during the day, and then the household runs from the stored solar energy at night time. So far, so good. In this case, economics says that you should install enough solar and battery capacity to cover most of your nighttime energy usage most of the time.
However, to go off-grid (and therefore not have access to grid power at any time), means you need to install not only enough batteries to run your house overnight and into the next morning (when electricity is usually cheapest anyway), but also to run your house in the event that we get days or even weeks without consistent sunshine. To do this – and not run the risk of running out of power (just before guests arrive for dinner) means you would have to buy and install around 10 times the capacity of batteries than you would otherwise, and only save an extra handful of dollars a month.
When is the right time to install solar batteries?
For almost everyone, the answer to this will be within the next three years. We have already installed hundreds of batteries since the release of the Enphase AC Battery, Fronius & Redback Hybrid Systems, the Tesla Powerwall 2 and the sonnenBatterie Eco 8. Currently, we are only installing the Tesla Powerwall Home Battery, and more information on why is available here.
Pricing for solar batteries is now much lower than what a lot of people were expecting, and many people have jumped at the opportunity to further reduce their power bills due to the ease of installing and managing these new batteries.
If you want to find out about current prices and further information on what options are available, please drop an enquiry and we would be happy to help.
Should I install solar now or wait for the batteries?
Solar power prices are at a record low to the point where a return on your money is now possible in 3 to 5 years, and even less on larger systems. Part of the reason solar power is booming in Australia is the Federal Government incentive (which won’t be around forever). On a 5kW system, the current rebate is around $4,000.
A battery ready solar system can be installed today (without batteries) and can start saving you money on your power bills from day one. A 5kW system can save you up to around $2000 a year off your power bills, so if you are likely to buy batteries in 2 to 3 years time, you can save a significant amount of money from your solar system before adding storage. If you buy a battery ready & expandable solar system such as Enphase or SolarEdge, once you are ready to add batteries you will be able to add additional panels as needed.
With battery ready solar system, we simply add the batteries by running a cable from the battery bank directly into your meter board, where we install an energy management hub that connects your batteries to your existing solar system and your home. These smart systems include full system monitoring that is connected to the cloud, allowing you to manage your solar & storage from anywhere in the world.
Will solar storage mean no more blackouts?
Certain batteries such as Powerwall 2 have the option to include backup functionality. The backup version of Powerwall 2 will work in a blackout, and then recharge from the solar system when it turns back on the next morning. This is a game-changer for solar power households, and has proven to be very popular with Solaray customers. Contact us today for more information and pricing.
If you want to use Battery Storage in a blackout, you would only look to power certain circuits or appliances that are absolutely necessary (which could be lights, medical equipment, computers etc) rather than the whole house. When you make an enquiry the Solaray Team will look at all of this to help you choose the right storage system. We will advise you on what options are available and what they can and can’t do.
