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  • What is Energy Storage and how does it work?

    Energy Storage is designed to maximise the self-use of onsite generated power, like solar, to benefit from multi-tariff differences or for energy trading and grid services. Preferably all of these can be used together to provide revenue, energy security and independence, lower bills and the knowledge you are maximising your opportunity to generate clean energy for your home, business or community.

    What's the best Energy Storage for me?

    Energy Storage can be AC-coupled or DC-coupled.

    AC-coupled storage has batteries connected to an inverter, which is connected to the grid. Charging and discharging is done by converting AC to DC or vice-versa. It will monitor the grid and solar (if installed) to store and release energy. Or it can work on timed basis to take advantage of low rate tariffs. It can be installed with or without renewables and when co-located with solar can be retro-fitted universally.

    DC-coupled systems use hybrid inverters which have the solar as well as batteries connected to it's DC inputs. Charging and discharging can be done via the DC 'bus' without converting, so is more efficient. Hybrid inverters are all-in-one solar inverter-battery chargers. Though slightly more efficient, they don't tend to work well with 3rd party equipment, so you're often tied in to their 'ecosystem', though most manufacturers offer their own diverters, switches and other devices to improve self-use of solar or stored energy. Hybrids can be a good idea installed with solar, but have limitations compared to the AC-coupled flexibilty.

    How much storage do I need? This will depend on your usage and your requirements, but as a rule of thumb, with solar PV, it's 1 to 2kWh of storage per kWp of solar. We've found that it's usually 2kWh at minimum for most, but storage tends to be modular, so capacity can be increased if quickly found to be worthwhile

    Givenergy have great value storage options with high quality kit, great app and monitoring control and also UK based support. It's flexible and modular, so capacity can be expanded, but the power to and from the inverter (and batteries) is limited to just under 3kW. Ideal retrofit for existing solar PV systems and for maintaining 3rd party compatibility

    Similar to the above arrangement, there are more powerful and DC-coupled. The batteries can charge and discharge with more power than the 3kW above. Good for new systems and inverter upgrades

    SolaX offer a range of storage inverters and particularly for small to medium 3-phase sites, both residential and commercial. Inverters range from 6kW to 15kW with a maximum of 4 batteries per inverter. The 5.8kWh batteries comes as a master unit with BMS (battery management system) and slave units to increase capacity as required, up to 23.2kWh

    Solaredge are releasing their new 'Home Hub' hybrid inverter range and these are available to order for summer 2023. Standard Solaredge HD Wave inverters can still be used with the Storedge and the new 10kWh home battery

    The Tesla Powerwall

    from £8750 plus VAT

    For high power, high capacity and the best engineered and supported storage available, the Tesla Powerwall has no competition. It is the King of Storage...miles ahead of the rest. It has 5kW of continuous power and 13.5kWh of usable capacity. They can be stacked for higher power still and provide responsive power on demand. With the new Gateway2 interfacing with the grid, it will give emergency back-up power safely and quickly.

    Installation costs can start from as low as £695 for the most conveniently located systems. Typically its around twice this but it really depends on the site and circumstances.

    TESLA POWERWALL - THE KING OF STORAGE

    The engineering is superb, matching the aesthetic and unrivalled support