- Benefits of a Solar Battery Installation With Your Panels
- Benefits of Waiting to Install Solar Battery Later
- Should You Start Solar Energy Storage Now or Later?
- Top Solar Panel Installation Company
As solar energy continues to take over more and more of the world’s electricity production, battery storage is a thriving segment of the sustainable energy market. The advantages of battery storage for solar energy are huge. So, the question for homeowners and business decision-makers becomes, “Should I install a battery for my solar panels now, or wait and add it later?”. Here are the key factors to consider when deciding to invest in a solar battery with your solar panel installation or to wait and add it later.
Benefits of a Solar Battery Installation With Your Panels
When choosing to include a solar battery with your solar panel installation or add it later, here are some of the most common considerations you’ll probably want to weigh in making that decision:
Avoid Power Company Rate Surges
Having your own electricity storage can help you keep your utility costs down if your power company imposes time-of-use rates, or demand charges, or doesn’t offer customers net metering. By storing your own power, you avoid drawing electricity from the grid at escalated rates when you need more energy than your panels are generating, such as during night hours. You have a hedge against rate hikes for profit or inflation offset.
Seamless Backup Power
Electrical power storage is an important resource for greater resiliency of your solar energy system. Especially if you experience power outages frequently and need to keep functioning until the electricity comes back on, a solar battery protects you from unpredictable electricity outages.
Slash System Install Costs
Having your solar panels and power storage battery installed together is much more efficient for your installer and more cost-effective for you. The major time savings in having all the work done at the same time requires fewer truck deployments and labor hours. This cuts your total solar energy system installation cost, compared to the combined cost of having two separate installations, to piece the full-scope system together later.
Permit and Grid Connection Costs
Installers obtain required permits to install your solar energy system, and those costs are included in your solar energy system installation price. The grid interconnection cost is also normally included. Your installer may need just one inclusive permit for grid connection work on a solar-plus-storage system. That makes permit filing less work and time-consuming for installers, and therefore less costly for you than obtaining more permits later.
Investment Tax Credit (ITC)
A major benefit in including your solar battery when you have your system installed is the opportunity to take advantage of the currently available federal ITC. When you install your power storage battery along with your solar panel system, you can claim 22% of your costs in investment credits on your federal tax return. That’s about $4,000 for an average solar battery system.
Retrofit System Integration
Issues with retrofitting power storage batteries into solar panel systems years after original installation of the system can be costly. Some batteries are less complicated to retrofit than others. The complexities are typically due to inverter setup compatibility. Although AC-coupled battery solutions allow more timeline flexibility, it is strongly recommended to install the solar panel system and battery together, if possible.
Benefits of Waiting to Install Solar Battery Later
If you are not sure whether you’ll ever want to store the electrical power you produce, then you may not be prepared to install a solar battery with your solar panels. But, if you do know you want to have the ability at some point to store power for your home to use anytime it’s needed, and you just want to figure out the best timing for your needs, then here are a couple of additional considerations:
Battery Cost Reductions
Over the decade leading up to 2019 the average solar battery price dropped dramatically. Even if those prices keep going down, keep in mind that there are very large incentives available to you currently that will not be available in the future. The ITC, for example, will also go down in 2023 and it will expire in 2024. So, waiting until this major financial incentive for solar is no longer available to you means you may pay a higher solar battery cost than you will with the credit applied today. Further, many states and/or electric companies are offering incentive programs too, but only for limited times.
Solar Battery Prices
A solar battery is a large purchase that can add over $10,000 to your total cost of long-term solar power production. Waiting can delay the increase in payments. Of course, that also delays the point in time when you can ultimately realize your strongest financial return on the investment, when you have paid off your system and you are providing as much free electricity for your home as your solar energy system and its power storage capacity can deliver.
Should You Start Solar Energy Storage Now or Later?
Deciding if you should go ahead and have your solar battery storage installed with your panel system or wait until some future point and work with a retrofit installation will depend on budget and priorities. If you choose to wait and decide in the future, be sure to have your system installer build a system that is ready for solar battery storage installation in the future. This will save you many difficulties if you do decide to purchase a solar battery later on.
Get complete information on your best solar battery options, costs, and installation, so you can make a fully informed decision about obtaining solar power storage.
Congratulations on Going Solar!
You’ve taken control of your power production! Now you can experience life with lower total energy costs, with your solar equipment payment. Ultimately, you’ll own your electricity generation service, instead of renting it for life from the utility company. You’ve also significantly increased your property value (by about $15,000), according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy. You’ve protected yourself from power company rate surges and you’ve reduced your carbon footprint! Congratulations on all the amazing advantages of energy independence you’ve given yourself by making your home part of the green energy solution!
Solarise Solar, Colorado Springs Colorado
Solarise Solar has been helping Colorado homeowners and businesses save on Colorado’s best solar energy systems and installation since 2016. Solarise experts customize every solar energy system for each customer’s home, budget, and unique needs.
We provide standard-setting solar energy systems including today’s state-of-the-art solar battery for house and commercial applications. We offer a 30-year warranty on our workmanship, and our customer service quality is unsurpassed. Ask about our zero-down payment option and low-interest financing. Solar energy system monitoring is convenient with our handy mobile and desktop apps.
