First off....HI... and welcome to the world of RE (Renewable Energy). Most people will find that entry into this world accompanied with action, results in the very least a feeling of good and well being.
Starting at the engineering level, emotions, environmental, etc. concerns aside, storage is a tough consideration unless you are off grid, where it becomes one with your off grid choice.
Solar electricity or PV can go direct to grid without storage as most people choose. The ITC in the past has given up to 30% for all those system costs. With the Inflation Reduction Act (Anorexic version of 'Build Back Better'), storage greater then 4KWH is taken into the equation for credit. AS you noted, this takes quite a bite out of the cost, though not a garage sale.
Shifting to the NEED perspective, the main benefit with storage is you get power when the grid goes down (I will assume you are on grid). If you are in an area with fixed KWH fees and rates, your battery bank (Whatever chem) will sit in a float state 99% of the time. This is where I find myself to date, recently updating my lead-acid wet batteries (7-9 year) to a Rolls OPzV gell solution which is reported to be able to survive 20+ years in a "float" application. I run about 40KWH tot..
Rolls OPzV gel battery C-20 785AH modelThat is the direct link to the spec sheet of the battery I chose. I am merely giving this as an example for what I chose for my specific application, backup power. They are made up in
Springhill, Nova Scotia.Cost was approximately 250$ per KWH including cables, shipping, etc..
Now with the ITC (30%) it would be reduced to ~175$ per KWH.
My decision to have RE backup power is that it is consistent with my choice for a net zero or better living structure, which includes all my transportation as well. This of course assumes my choice of having backup power in the first place. In my location we have very short outages from time to time, maybe 6 times a year with the possibility of one in the 24-48 hour range.
SO I guess my first thought would be, how is power stability at your location?
Then do you feel the need for backup power? (Life style configuration).
Followed by do you want an RE solution or a more traditional "Generac" solution?, though they as well have started offering inverter battery based solutions with varying options.
The last choice I guess would be Greta or Capitalism. Who rules? (A little intended humor).
The last financial calculation would be if you live in a TOU environment with enough variance (Should be real big) to make it worth while to cover a Lithium solution (Better than Lead here) cycling batteries everyday. To get 20+ year Lithium's is going to cost you, considering the duty cycles and DOD's. Choose carefully. Everyone is pushing into this market now.
I will stop there, for any more becomes a handbook...
Keep asking questions and try to have fun along the way.....
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william fitch
Owner
www.WeAreSolar.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 12-05-2022 02:07 PM
From: Nathan Freeman
Subject: Is Storage Worth the Investment?
Hello, everyone!
So, as I research further and further into Solar Technologies, I find myself asking questions which I cannot answer myself. While I have my personal opinions on various subjects, it is always a good idea to get some feedback from others with similar passions for renewables such as solar energy.
After learning aspects of Solar PV system design, it is abundantly clear the major heavy hitter in terms of finances is the inclusion of storage with solar systems (or renewables of any kind for that matter). While grants and rebates are present in most states (along with the Federal ITC rebate at 30%) help alleviate the financial burden, I was wondering how this community felt about the inclusion of storage methods with solar systems. While I feel it would be ideal, there are some situations in which the inclusion of storage could be too financially debilitating for a current investment, especially since battery life of some of the more economical versions of storage don't hold up to the system's array/inverter life.
Simple version of my question: Is storage worth the current investment in your opinion? Should it be a consideration for MOST people looking to purchase a solar PV system?
Thanks for your input!
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Nathan Freeman
Student
ASES Technical Divisions
Milford DE
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