Electricity During Storms Severe Weather And Other Power Outages
The grid power supply can be affected by seasonal storms and other severe weather conditions that lead to power outages, sometimes extending for hours or even days. A good example is the huge winter storm that hit Texas in mid-February 2021, causing power outages for at least 4.5 million customers. To add insult to injury, some Texans were even stuck with huge utility bills as some electricity rates skyrocketed more than 7,000% in a matter of days.
Another example of severe weather leading to large-scale power outages was the massive 2019 wildfires in California. More than 2 million customers were left without power after the utilities turned off the grid to prevent high winds from knocking down power lines and starting even more wildfires.
Having solar battery storage added to your solar power system can save you the stress of having to experience similar occurrences in the future, as you can use the power thats stored in your battery, even if the rest of the grid is experiencing a blackout. With climate change causing more severe weather and larger and even more destructive storms, its a safe bet that large-scale blackouts will continue to be an issue in the coming years.
Does Solar Increase Home Value
A solar energy system can increase the overall value of your home. The installation is viewed the same as upgrades like kitchen expansions, finished basements and updated bathroom fixtures. According to a 2019 Zillow report, solar panels increase home value by 4.1%, or an additional $9,274 on average.
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Inverter Quality And Features
An inverter transforms DC electricity from your solar panels into AC electricity for your house. As with panels, inverter quality varies. Moreover, inverters have a higher failure rate than panels. This makes it important to get a good-quality inverter with a strong warranty. In addition, some inverters come with handy features like remote monitoring. The difference in price between a good-quality and a poor-quality inverter is around 300-800. Whatever about the panels, dont skimp on your inverter. Fronius, Enphase, and SMA are some examples of reputable inverter brands.
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How Much Does A Solar Farm Cost
According to U.S. Solar Market Insight Report, it usually costs between $0.89 and $1.01 per watt to build a solar farm. That said, it would cost between $890,000 and $1.01 million to build a 1 megawatt solar farm.
But solar power farm can not only help reduce carbon footprint, but also save money on utility bills. Plus, rebates and incentives like the federal solar tax credit offset the cost of building a solar power farm. However, this depends on many factores, including electricity usage, local electricity rates, and the size of solar system.
How Many Solar Panels Are Needed To Power A Typical House
A typical 4 kW system generates enough electricity for a family of four or five and comprises 16 1-metre by 2-metre rectangular solar panels. This can take up around 30 square metres of roof space. Many manufacturers are focusing on producing compact, highly efficient panels requiring a smaller surface area to capture the suns energy, making solar systems suitable even without large amounts of roof real estate.
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What If Im Getting A Tax Refund
Theres also the scenario that you had your taxes withheld from your paycheck, which means you already paid your taxes. In some cases, too much might have been taken out of your paycheck, and now the federal government owes you a refund.
If this is the case, the federal solar tax credit will be added to your tax refund check. But, only the amount up to what you owed. If you owed $8,000 in taxes, but $10,000 was withheld from your paychecks, youd be getting a $2,000 tax refund from the government.
Now let’s say in that same year, you installed solar and got a $9,000 tax credit, you would get an additional $8,000 on your refund check – for a total tax refund of $10,000. The remaining $1,000 from the tax credit would carry over to the next year.
Factor : The Quality Of Your Batteries
Similar to solar costs, the first thing to consider with the batteries youre installing is the quality of the product you select. While all storage products on the market today meet rigorous safety testing requirements, there can still be variations in the overall quality of the energy storage systems and youre likely to pay more for higher quality products.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Generacs Battery
There are many, many questions you can ask about any battery youre installing. Here are a few more quick hits about the Generac PWRcell:
Where can a PWRcell be installed?
Like the Tesla Powerwall, the Generac PWRcell is properly set up to be installed inside or outside.
Can you power an electric vehicle with a PWRcell?
The largest PWRcell model is 18 kWh, which is much smaller than the batteries in most long-range electric cars. As such, you likely wont be able to recharge much of your electric car with a Generac PWRcell.
Can a PWRcell back up your whole house?
In short, yes, but not for long. If you want to back up your whole house for an extended period of time, youll need a much larger battery bank. Plus, youll definitely want to pair your storage system with solar panels. A single PWRcell battery might keep your appliances going for a few hours or so, but dont expect to stay powered through a long outage with just a single PWRcell battery . Check out our article about how many solar batteries you need to see the math.
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Are Solar Batteries Suitable For Every Home
While some homes and their owners in the UK will benefit from a solar battery installation, others wont. If you use all or the majority of electricity generated by your solar panel system, then you might want to think twice about getting a solar battery or just get a small one. However, if you are only using small amounts of electricity generated by your system because you arent at home during the day, a solar battery is a great option. With this in mind, we recommend you contact a reputable solar engineer to assess requirements before you buy a solar battery storage system.
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How A Solar Battery Works
Add a solar battery to your existing solar system so you can store excess energy to use when the sun isnt shining.
Get up to $1,000 off the upfront cost of a solar battery by joining our Virtual Power Plant . Our VPP is a connected network of solar batteries that can help take pressure off the grid.
We even have convenient payment options. Choose interest free finance over 60 months through Plenti, or pay in full upfront.
How Demand Charges Affect Solar Battery Economics
Demand charges are when the electricity rate your utility changes depends on how much electricity you use. The more you use, the higher the rate. The rates may also depend on the amount of electricity you use during peak hours when power demand is higher. This policy is meant to encourage homeowners to reduce their total electricity usage.
If you have solar power and can store excess energy in a solar battery, you can significantly decrease the amount of energy you use from the grid, so youll pay even less for electricity from utilities with demand charges, because your total electricity usage will be much less.
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Expertpower 12v 200ah Deep Cycle Battery
ExpertPower is another California-based company specializing in energy storage solutions.
Impressive power and capacity are also the best features that the ExpertPower LiFePO4 solar battery can offer. Its 12V 200Ah capacity equates to around 2.4 kWh, which can power an extensive range of home appliances.
This ExpertPower solar battery also has an impressive lifespan of 10 years or between 2500-7000 cycles. Thats clearly longer than most solar batteries in the current market.
Its also backed with a built-in battery management system that guarantees up to a year of maintenance-free storage. This feature protects the battery from over-discharge, deep discharge, short circuit, and overheating. The same feature also protects the battery from going into an excessively low self-discharge rate.
The ExpertPower was also designed so that it performs in all temperature types. It has a wide operating temperature range of 32°F-140°F for charging and -4°F to 140°F for discharging.
Like the previous product on this list, weight is what may set the ExpertPower back. Its 48.3 lbs heavy and is 21 inches long and 9.5 inches wide.
Another disappointing thing is its limited warranty of only one year. We would have liked it better with a longer warranty that matches, or at least close to its claimed lifespan.
All in all, the ExpertPower is another option to consider for a high-capacity and long-lasting solar battery.
Maintenance Costs Of Solar Panels
Lastly, it is important to mention that rooftop solar panel systems will require significant amounts of maintenance.
In the case of utility-supplied electricity, homeowners have long understood that problems in the electrical grid would be fixed, maintained and updated by the utility company. For grid-tied rooftop solar systems, however, the solar panels are part of your property and you will be required to care for them.
An average annual inspection of a rooftop solar panel system should cost you around $150 per year. To maintain your solar panels dust, dirt, and debris-free, you will also probably want an annual clearing, which could cost you $20 per panel unless you want to venture up onto your roof by yourself. For a home with an 8 kW system that contains 36 panels, you are looking at an additional $800 in annual cleaning costs.
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Questions To Ask Your Solar Battery Provider Before You Buy
Clearly, a solar battery is a big purchase and investment in your home, so you want to be sure you understand what you are buying before you spend a dollar. Perhaps you have your eye on a specific battery based on your power consumption and size needs. Here are some more questions ask before you move forward.
Prepare Your Solar System Now
If you already have a solar power system installed on your home or business, you want to make sure its ready to implement solar batteries. This means calling your solar technician from either your installation company or through your operations and maintenance services to ensure you can add a battery bank to your system.
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Improve Your Propertys Epc Rating
All newly rented properties will need a minimum EPC rating of C from 2025 and across all rental properties by 2028. Currently, the required rating is E.
According to research by Shawbrook Bank, 15% of landlords surveyed had no knowledge of this legislation. As a result, millions of properties risk becoming unrentable.
Installing solar panels can raise your existing energy rating to at least the next band and increase your propertys rental attraction above the competition.
Are Solar Batteries Covered By The Solar Investment Tax Credit
The Internal Revenue Service specifies that battery installations for which all energy that is used to charge the battery can be effectively assured to come from the Solar Energy System are eligible for the full solar tax credit.
In other words, yes, solar batteries like the Tesla Powerwall and the LG Chem are eligible for the solar tax credit if they are charged by solar energy more than 75% of the time.
This means that if you install a battery with a new solar system, you will save 26% on the total combined cost.
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Lifeline Marine Agm Battery
Next up on this list, we have a 6V battery option offered by Lifeline, which is quite a popular and well-known brand in the industry for manufacturing durable batteries for boats and RVs.
That said, the Lifeline Marine AGM Battery can be a great choice of battery that you can install in your RV. The battery operates at 6V voltage and comes with a total battery capacity of 220 Ah. In fact, it is capable of delivering up to 492 cycles at 25 Amps discharge which makes it one of the most powerful and most-efficient options out there. In fact, at 5 Amps, this battery is designed to offer cycles up to 1692 which is great.
On the other hand, if we talk about its design and other factors, the battery comes properly sealed and theres no need for any maintenance either since its an AGM-based battery. On top of that, it can be either installed in RVs, Marine boats or can also be used in Solar applications too. Apart from that, its made in the USA itself and the brand provides a surprising 5-year warranty for it.
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State Solar Tax Credits And Incentives
Unlike utility incentives, state government incentives usually dont need to be deducted before the federal tax credit is calculated.
So, if you installed a $20,000 system and got a $1,000 state government rebate, the solar tax credit would be based on the initial price of $20,000. In this example, that means the tax credit would be worth 30% of $20,000, for a federal tax credit worth $6,000. That would mean you would get a total of $7,000 in incentives.
The same goes for state tax incentives. But, getting a state tax credit will end up increasing your taxable income on your federal tax returns, as you will have fewer state income taxes to deduct. Currently, ten states offer state tax credits, including Arizona, Massachusetts, and New Mexico.
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How Many Solar Panels Do I Need
Your energy needs determine how many panels you need, which affects the overall price of your solar system installation. To eliminate your electric bill entirely, you must generate 100% of the electricity your home needs. Most homeowners need between 25 and 35 panels to achieve complete energy independence.
Average households need867 kWh/monthin electrical power
A solar panel typically produces about one kilowatt-hour per day, so if your daily kWh usage is 30, you would need 30 solar panels to generate all of your energy needs. If you need to generate extra energy to heat a pool or run the air conditioning for most of the year, this adds to your energy costs.
To estimate the amount of energy youll need, you need to know your average kilowatt-hours . This number should be on your utility bill as kWh used. To get your monthly average, look at bills for the past year, add up the stated kWh used and divide by 12.
Next, divide your monthly kWh average by 30 to calculate your daily average. For instance, if your average monthly kWh is 900, then your average daily kWh is 30.
For a more accurate calculation, try to factor in times when there is not as much solar power available, like when its cloudy or in the evening. There are two main ways to account for this:
These additional calculations can be difficult, but they are necessary if you want the optimum solar power system for your home.
Are Solar Batteries Expensive To Maintain
Lithium-ion batteries, the most popular type of solar battery for US homeowners, require almost no maintenance at all.
Beyond a bit of light dusting and the occasional check up to make sure theyre holding charge properly, you can safely leave your solar battery alone.
A quick note on charge: dont worry if your battery starts to lose charge capacity over the years this is totally normal and expected.
You should still check that your batterys charge degradation matches the warranty, which will guarantee you a set percentage of charge capacity after a certain number of years for example, an 80% charge capacity by year 10.
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How Much Do Solar Panels Cost In The Uk In 2022
The cost of solar panels depends on several factors, including the size of the system required, ease of installation, and whether you require a storage battery, PV diverter, or other optional add-ons. Typically, however, a 4 kW system costs around £6,500 and can save you up to £1,000 annually on your energy bills.
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Solar Panels And Solar Batteries Make A Great Pair
Installing a solar battery storage system can be a great way to get the most value out of your solar panels.
Batteries are an excellent source of backup power, they increase your energy independence, and in some cases can even save you more money on your electric bill because youll be drawing power from the battery instead of the grid.
However, solar battery systems do come at a price. If youre looking to save money on your electricity bill, installing a solar battery might not be right for you, especially if your utility offers net metering. However, if you live in an area that experiences widespread blackouts, like the ones in California and Texas, or somewhere with Time-of-Use utility rates, having a battery backup to store energy for when you need it will be beneficial.
The upside is that the price of solar battery technology continues to fall, so much so that someday in the near future, solar batteries will come standard with all solar energy systems.
If youre looking to pair your solar panels with storage, make sure you contact multiple reputable battery storage installers to ensure that you get the highest quality installation at the best possible price.
See what local installers are charging for solar + battery storage installations
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