Upcoming electric rate changes in parts of the U.S. mean that almost every home and business here will eventually benefit from a battery connected to their solar system.
These combined systems provide tangible economic benefits: time-shifting energy use, energy arbitrage, preserving the benefits of net metering and demand-charge reduction.
But surprisingly, the vast majority of residential customers are installing battery storage systems for emotional benefits: backup power and cutting their utility ties. Just as it was in the early days of the PV industry, it is challenging for contractors to correlate these economic and emotional needs of customers with the practical realities of currently available (and reliable) battery storage systems.
As our company got back into the energy storage business with lithium-ion batteries, we did extensive research into battery systems and their compatible inverters, into manufacturers, into software and operating modes, and into the interconnection and incentive process.
In spite of our efforts, we encountered a wide range of challenges on our first few installations. There were relatively minor learning experiences such as finding the best ways to transport and mount a 200+ pound battery, streamlining a battery structural permit, and ensuring the battery doesn’t die before being interconnected. And there were major (expensive) learning experiences such as discovering that the battery cannot provide the startup current for even a relatively low horsepower motor (such as a well pump or small air conditioner).
The good news is that we are encountering zero safety issues with regard to residential lithium-ion battery installations. Popular systems on the market are UL 9540 listed, and are equipped with safety features that make it almost impossible to short the battery and create a fire.
In many regards, batteries are safer to install than rooftop solar. Anecdotally, the only safety incident of which I am aware occurred when a battery fell on someone’s foot.
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