Do I really need a battery backup?

A battery backup for your solar panels may be a more necessary addition than you think. Especially now that the rainy season is upon us. With the relentless rain causing soggy soft ground conditions, tree roots start losing their grip. So, when wind speeds start building, the chances of a powerful gust bringing a mighty tree down onto the power lines become more and more likely. The familiar result of a power outage is bound to arrive.

Several days later, the story from the utility company is still the same. “Our linemen are out there 24/7 working as fast as possible.” Meanwhile, you have no hot water, you can’t cook, and your lights are out. How come your neighbors a few blocks down have their power restored and you don’t? No answer from the utility company to that one!

Batteries are the Solution

Fortunately, there is a great solution to all this. With a battery backup for solar panels, you have continuous power for your essential needs, even during an electric grid failure. So, you can continue to enjoy electricity, even when everything around you goes dark.

Read on to see the many other advantages a battery backup for solar panels brings to your home solar system.

The Truth About Solar Energy and Blackouts

Many people have the impression that installing solar panels on your roof means that you automatically continue receiving power when the commercial grid goes down. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case. When the grid is down it requires the utility line workers to get out and get busy repairing the problem. Naturally, they cannot work if there is live current anywhere along the system, so even your house solar system needs to shut down while they are working.

One can understand that the workers need to make sure that the grid is completely off while working. What does this have to do with the panels on the roof of your house? Why are they programmed to automatically shut down electricity production during a power outage?

During normal sunny daylight hours, the solar panels on your roof will continuously be generating current. In practice, you won’t need all this current, so your panels will end up producing more electricity than you will use that day. Rather than let that excess power go to waste, your home system automatically feeds that extra unwanted current back into your electricity utility’s grid. Your utility company then ‘banks’ this electricity for you to use at those times when your system is not generating power, such as nighttime or on very overcast days.

If your solar system were allowed to continue feeding power back into the grid during a power outage, there would still be live current flowing into the grid, and the line workers would be endangered. Your system therefore automatically shuts down power production while they are working and repairing the faults caused by the storm.

Battery Backup Keeps You Out of the Dark

With your own solar system battery backup, you can continue to enjoy electricity, even when everything around you goes dark. Even with the grid down, and without your panels producing current, the essential systems in your home will still remain fully powered and operational. Not only are you paying far less for your electricity bills, but you can have assured power when the rest of the block is in darkness!

Want to learn more about bringing solar energy into your life and get tips on how to best utilize it? Check out the HahaSmart blog!

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