Solar Power + Storage - Why every Solar PV system owner should consider adding this for better returns. April 06 2016
We recently supplied one of our new "SOLAR HYBRID STORAGE SYSTEMS" to Gavin over in Sydney Australia to get better returns and more savings from his existing Solar PV system.
He was already running 16 x 260w Trina Honey Solar Panels (4.16kW) with Enphase Micro Inverters. He was wasting around HALF his Solar Power produced each day by giving it back to the grid for peanuts (basically giving it to them almost for free at around 6c per kWh), and yet facing paying 51cents per per kW worth of power later in the evening (on that same day). So instead he now has 14.4kWh worth of latest technology Lead Carbon Battery storage and our Hybrid Storage system manages everything automatically for him to get BEST advantage to use ALL of his solar power each day (without wasting any of it back to the grid) and he also gets to top up his battery storage cheaply from the grid at the lowest cost of 11c per kW unit in the middle of the night to cover his morning loads also. This solution would give an average solar power home a benefit of around $110 - $160 per month MORE compared with just having the solar power system alone, and a net benefit of around $260 per month compared to before he had any solar power system or storage at all.
Gavin had looked into the options of getting the new Enphase AC battery, and also the Tesla Powerwall battery and Panasonic Home Storage Lithium battery as options, however with a high cost per kW and low storage options (the Enphase only 1kWh usable storage, the Tesla Powerwall only 6.4kWh usable storage per day and the Panasonic only 8kWh storage per day) he really wanted a better solution that offered MORE storage so he wasn't having to waste all his solar production each day sending most of it back to the grid as it had been until our system was installed. This system also allows him to easily expand (and DOUBLE) his storage capacity to 28.8kW anytime he would like to in the future with minimal extra cost per kWh worth of storage, as it's only the extra batteries that would be needed, no inverter, charger or other system upgrades would be required.
This is a perfect example of how Solar Power + Storage (in the right setup) is a game changer today and WHY every home with Solar Power in NZ and Australia should consider adding on this option.
You would have thought that between Enphase, Tesla and Panasonic they could have came up with a solution which would have achieved the same result for Gavin, but in this case their solutions were not up to the task or readily available to retro-fit onto his existing system easily or at an affordable price.
Talk to us if you'd like to know more about how to get the BEST efficiency and payback from your existing solar power system, or even if you don't have a solar power system and are interested in getting one and care about the actual savings and returns that the system will give you (not just having it on your roof to look pretty and give you poor paybacks as many systems are currently doing today).
The pictures and graph should best explain and show the savings that our system was giving him over that 24 hour period.
