The cost of powering your home has risen dramatically, with UK energy prices more than doubling since 2018. If you’re looking to take control of your electricity costs, solar panels offer an excellent solution. But they come with one significant limitation: they only generate power during daylight hours, which rarely aligns with when you need electricity most.
This is where solar battery storage transforms your solar installation from good to great. By storing excess energy generated during sunny periods, you can power your home during peak evening hours when grid electricity is most expensive and say goodbye to watching that valuable solar energy go to waste.
With that in mind, let’s explore how adding battery storage to your solar panel system can maximise your energy independence and shield you from rising costs.
Why Your Home Solar Panels Need Battery Storage
Your solar panels work hardest during the middle of the day, precisely when your household typically uses the least electricity. Without battery storage, this valuable energy often feeds back to the grid instead of benefiting your home directly. While you can earn money on the excess through the Smart Export Guarantee, it’s rarely as cost-effective as avoiding using electricity during peak hours.
Regarding those peak hours, they’re usually between 4 pm and 11 pm when you’re cooking dinner, running appliances, watching television, and keeping the lights on. Unfortunately, this is exactly when your solar panels are producing little to no power, especially during winter months.
Battery storage bridges this gap perfectly. Instead of letting your daytime solar energy go elsewhere, you store it for when you actually need it. This means you can run your evening routine on free, self-generated power rather than drawing expensive electricity from the grid during peak rate periods. Better yet, you can save even more by going on specialist tariffs that reward you for avoiding these energy peaks altogether, such as Octopus Agile.
Choosing the Right Home Solar Battery Storage Solution
Selecting the right battery storage system for your home isn’t just about buying the biggest possible capacity you can. Your ideal solution depends on several key factors, including your household size, energy usage patterns, and the size of your solar panel system.
A typical UK household uses between 8-10 kWh of electricity per day, but your actual usage could be higher or lower. The size of the battery you need depends largely on how much of your evening and overnight electricity consumption you want to cover with stored solar energy. While a 4-5 kWh battery might suit a small household, larger families often benefit from systems offering 8-13 kWh of usable capacity.
Well-executed integration with your existing solar panel system is also crucial. Your solar battery storage solution needs to work seamlessly with your solar inverter and home electricity supply. Modern systems come with smart technology that automatically decides when to store power and when to use it, helping you maximise savings during peak rate periods.
Making Solar Battery Storage Work for Your Family
Getting the most from your battery storage system means understanding how your family uses electricity throughout the day. Small changes to your daily routines can make a significant difference to your energy savings. For example, running your washing machine or dishwasher during daylight hours ensures you’re using solar power directly rather than storing it in your battery.
Seasonal changes also affect how your system performs. During the summer months, your solar panels will generate more electricity, potentially filling your battery by early afternoon. Winter presents different challenges, with shorter days and increased energy demand. Your battery storage system helps balance these seasonal variations, ensuring you still benefit from solar power even during darker months.
Smart energy management takes the guesswork out of the equation. Modern battery systems can learn your household’s energy patterns and adapt automatically, storing power when generation is high and releasing it when you need it most. They can even factor in weather forecasts to make better charging decisions, ensuring you have power available when you need it.
Start Your Solar Battery Installation Journey Today
Battery storage transforms the effectiveness of your solar panel system, helping you take full advantage of the free energy you generate. The technology has come a long way in recent years, becoming more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective.
At Applegarth, we’ve been installing solar panels and battery storage systems across the North West for years. Our team of experienced electricians understands the intricacies of these systems and can guide you through the options available. We’re fully accredited under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and work with leading battery storage manufacturers.
To discuss your battery storage options, simply call us on 0151 649 8350 or email info@applegarth.co.uk. We’ll arrange a consultation to assess your current setup and recommend the best storage solution for your home.
