The benefits of a solar battery are vast. In no particular order, this includes:
1. You will obtain autonomy and rely less on power companies
Installing a solar battery at your home will increase your home’s autonomy and you will rely less on electricity providers. You will be able to generate, store and consume all your own electricity making you much less reliant on the grid.
2. You will save money
Having a battery can save you money. While the returns on solar are much stronger, batteries are becoming much more lucrative with state rebates. A solar battery will enable you to use your stored electricity when you need it.
If you are on a Time of Use Tariff the PEAK charge is when a lot of homes use their electricity. This is commonly between 2pm-8pm Monday to Friday. The cost of electricity during this PEAK period can be around 50c/kW depending on which state you are in. Using a battery in PEAK periods will significantly reduce your overall cost of electricity.
3. You will be protected from blackouts (and brownouts)
Good solar batteries will come with blackout protection. This functionality will allow the home to use stored battery power when the grid goes down.
You will be smiling with the lights on (and cold milk in the fridge!) while your neighbours are sitting in the dark.
One of our customers recently found out their entire neighbourhood had been without power for nearly 12 hours, unbeknownst to them as their battery kicked in.
Black out protection is also great for those who have certain appliances which need electricity, such as pumps on a toilet for a rural property.
4. You will be less impacted by the rising cost of living
A solar battery combined with a solar system will allow you to secure your home against the aggressive price increases of electricity from the grid. Electricity prices continue to rise, year in and year out, making the investment in a battery a safe way to protect yourself against these price rises.
5. You will be able to be in full control of your energy
Certain electricity providers allow you to sell your stored energy back to the grid when demand is needed. This can be quite profitable due to the supply vs demand economics in play when the grid is unable to meet consumer demand.
With a solar battery, you get full control. You can manage the solar battery via your own mobile app and participate in virtual power plants (or VPP for short).
A VPP is network of decentralised generation and storage units, which are solar and battery systems across the country connected in one big virtual battery. When the price of electricity on the wholesale market goes UP, the batteries will discharge together and earn the Virtual Power Plant operator revenue, which can be shared with the owner of the battery.
Each Virtual Power Plant is different, but the concepts are very much the same. Having a battery combined with your solar system will allow you to take part in these new programs.