Solar power at night is the new normal
Our Enphase Storage Systems are now returning detailed information about their performance that we are excited to share with you. They are working so well that solar storage is set to quickly become the new normal for households in Australia, especially for those of us that are out of the house during the day.
The solar system is working well
The output of solar power (the blue line) is typically a bell curve that peaks during the middle of the day. In this example, there was some cloud cover that caused the system to drop off a few times across the day.
The orange line shows the household’s power consumption, spiking at various times as certain appliances are turned on such as a washing machine or air conditioning. The 5kW solar system does a great job of covering the base load of the house all day, and this graph shows why staying connected to the grid is a must for most if not all households, because certain appliances require a peak of energy usage that cannot be covered by solar power unless the solar system is seriously oversized.
Solar power at night thanks to Enphase Batteries
During the day, the Enphase Batteries charge when excess solar power is available. This solar power would otherwise be sold off to the grid at around 5 cents a kWh.
At around 4.30 pm the sun goes down and the system’s output reduces. At this point, the Enphase Batteries automatically begin discharging, powering the home throughout the evening until 1am in the morning. If it wasn’t for those two big spikes of power, this home would be running almost entirely off solar power all evening, an incredible development and shows why the uptake of renewable energy in Australia is about to explode.
Again, this graph clearly shows why households looking to get battery storage should stay connected to the grid. The only way of going off-grid and maintaining your normal energy usage is to invest in a battery bank that can cover these peaks of energy usage, something that would cost tens of thousands of dollars. You are much better off relying on solar & storage to power the base load of your house and then automatically draw power from the grid as needed, both during the day and at night.
For more information about solar power with battery storage, please contact the Solaray Team on 1300 525 451. We have solutions for both existing solar systems and as a complete package with solar + storage. As one of the largest solar storage installers in Australia, we can provide professional and personalised advice based on your situation. Give us a call today and find out how you can run your home almost entirely off solar power!
Request a Solaray Quote Today
Leave a Reply