Home Solar Power System Batteries
If you’re wondering what kind of battery is the best to use with a solar power system, this article will give you the answer. If you are planning to install a solar power system and you want to use electricity when the sun isn’t shining, you’ll need a way to store the power produced when the sun is shining. The way to do this is with batteries and a proper charge controller. But, what is the best type of battery to use?
Many people would probably first think of the new battery technologies used in devices like cell phones, laptop computers and also in hybrid cars. Those battery types are great for these devices, but aren’t a very good fit for solar as you’ll see.
The biggest advantage these newer battery technologies have is size and weight. The biggest drawback to these batteries is cost versus the older batteries. These newer types of batteries make devices like cell phones more expensive, but they allow the devices to me much smaller and lighter and in these applications size and weight are more important than cost.
You likely aren’t going to be carrying your solar power system around with you, however. What is going to be important is having as large a capacity as you can. So, much more important than size or weight will be cost per watt/hour of capacity.
If you want the best value for a given battery capacity, you can’t beat regular sealed lead acid. This is the same type of battery that is used in cars. Sealed lead acid batteries will be 50-25% the cost of the newer battery types for similar capacity. For toughness, low cost and safety, you can’t bead sealed lead acid batteries.
The most common voltage for sealed lead acid batteries is 12 volts. 12, 24 or 48 volts are the most common voltages for solar systems. These voltages can easily be generated by connecting together the proper number of 12v batteries in series. You then take these groups of batteries tied together in series and wire the groups in parallel to increase the amount of power you can store and then later release from the batteries.
Since you are using 12 volt batteries, a 12 volt solar charger. The charger will make sure the voltage going to the batteries is correct, and will prevent overcharging.
One last thing you will need if you want to power appliances you usually plug into the wall is a power inverter. If you’re looking to sell extra power back to the electric company, you should use a grid tie inverter. A regular power inverter will power all your appliances and be less expensive if you don’t need to tie into the grid.
That’s pretty much it. For a home solar power system, tried and true older battery technology is best. For home solar systems, sealed lead acid batteries are what you should use.
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