Grid Tied

Grid Tied

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Deciding whether or not to get a battery backup for your grid-tied system may not be so easy as the advantages and disadvantages are not always obvious. A solar battery array will add considerable expense to your system - how can you decide if it is really necessary or appropriate for your situation?

A grid-tied system without batteries is much simpler and cheaper, as well as being more efficient (mainly due to the losses involved in charging the batteries). Excess energy is fed back into the grid, effectively using the grid itself as storage. It is important to note however that these simple systems do not provide a backup source in the event of a general power failure, even in sunny conditions. 

Using solar battery backup means the system can continue to function in the event of a grid power failure, even at night. Because a battery based system is less efficient it may supply up to 10% less energy, and the expensive batteries will have to be replaced probably every ten years or so. If your grid is quite reliable it is probably not worth the additional expense. If however you have an unreliable grid, you may well consider the additional expense of a battery backup system to be very worthwhile. In the event of a power failure a battery-backed system is usually not designed to support every load in your home, and usually only the most critical devices will be connected to the backup system. Heating, air conditioning and other high power loads are generally not supported as supporting such loads from a battery backup would be very expensive indeed.

If your utilities are very unreliable and not available for long periods of time then you may even want to consider complete alternatives to electricity. Solar water heating can be very effective if the climate is appropriate and it may be possible to substitute the higher power electrical devices (such as for heating and cooking) with gas-fired appliances.

I spent ages looking for the best way to build a DIY solar power system, you can read about my experiences at DIY Solar Power. You can see the results of my tests at DIY Solar Panels. For more information visit homesolarwind.com

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