Grid-Interconnected or Batteries?
Many customers assume that when they install a solar system, they are going to be able to “unplug” from their electric utility and are surprised when we explain that they probably don’t want to do that. Here are a couple of simple reasons why:
- Unless you’ve designed your house to achieve a very high degree of energy efficiency from the outset, you likely can’t afford to completely offset your electric consumption with solar. Most houses use far too much electricity to be able to affordably offset their total use entirely with solar.
- Solar is not consistent minute to minute, hour to hour or even day to day. Solar panels are highly affected by clouds and may be reduced to zero production for days at a time during a period of cloudy or stormy weather and our electric appliances really don’t like power fluctuations, so some way of ”regulating” that power is required.
- As you know, the sun only shines during the day when most people are at work and you are using little electricity at home. Most residential consumption occurs in the late afternoon when the sun’s energy is waning.
- Without storage, all that power you produce during the day will simply go to waste. You need to be able to store the power somehow and storage remains a sticky problem to this day. Batteries are currently the only practical method of storage for residential customers, but batteries present many challenges, such as cost, safety and maintenance.
So unless you are installing solar somewhere far “off grid” and it is prohibitively expensive to bring power to the house, your least expensive and most practical option is to remain tied to the grid. By installing a grid-interconnected system you are essentially buying into an insurance policy that provides you with consistent reliable power year round, regardless of the time of day or season. When the sun is shinning you are sending power to the grid and when the sun is not, the grid is returning you the favor. While most of us would love to “unplug” the reality is a little less dramatic, but nonetheless satisfying. The AC solar systems we install use Enphase microinverters which provide near real-time production data that can be monitored on the internet allowing you to see the positive impact you are having on the environment with your solar system. Contact us today for your free solar consultation.
