MisterB1959
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2022
- Messages
- 360
i think the battery storage 'market' in the UK will increase significantly in the next couple of years. there are probably tens of thousands of solar power arrays that get paid for producing energy but feed most of it back to the grid and then have to buy it back later in the evening/early morning - I am one of them !!
as an example we 'harvested' over 3000KW last year, for which we received just over £1000, but the reality is the way the Feed in Tariff system works, we would still have received that amount had we stored that energy and used it ourselves, rather than pay our energy provider to let us have our energy back, so it makes sense financially. Our initial set up cost for the solar array has now been recovered and rather than just buy more energy (or rather, the energy we need but at a much higher cost) i am happy to let the solar now 'pay' for a home battery storage system.
we are also on an energy tariff where we get 4 hours off peak electricity (12am until 4am) at around 7 pence per kw but outside of those times we pay around 40p per kw - if we are able to capture all the produced energy and use it ourselves during peak periods, it would equate to a saving of £1200 per year, however, realistically if we could recoup just 50% of that it would be a big enough saving, but one of the benefits would also be that when the solar isnt 'producing' between 12am and 4am, we could buy energy at 7p per KW, store it in the battery bank and then use that stored energy later in the day when it would usually cost us 40p per KW !
a 13KW battery would give us 10kw (so as not to run it at its max) - so 70p to give us 10kw or £4 of electricity or £1.40 to give us 20kw or £8 of electricity if we doubled our battery storage. So to me it makes financial sense IF i can keep the costs down on the battery install. When the solar starts to produce later in the day then any excess will go into the batteries, reducing costs even further.
as an example we 'harvested' over 3000KW last year, for which we received just over £1000, but the reality is the way the Feed in Tariff system works, we would still have received that amount had we stored that energy and used it ourselves, rather than pay our energy provider to let us have our energy back, so it makes sense financially. Our initial set up cost for the solar array has now been recovered and rather than just buy more energy (or rather, the energy we need but at a much higher cost) i am happy to let the solar now 'pay' for a home battery storage system.
we are also on an energy tariff where we get 4 hours off peak electricity (12am until 4am) at around 7 pence per kw but outside of those times we pay around 40p per kw - if we are able to capture all the produced energy and use it ourselves during peak periods, it would equate to a saving of £1200 per year, however, realistically if we could recoup just 50% of that it would be a big enough saving, but one of the benefits would also be that when the solar isnt 'producing' between 12am and 4am, we could buy energy at 7p per KW, store it in the battery bank and then use that stored energy later in the day when it would usually cost us 40p per KW !
a 13KW battery would give us 10kw (so as not to run it at its max) - so 70p to give us 10kw or £4 of electricity or £1.40 to give us 20kw or £8 of electricity if we doubled our battery storage. So to me it makes financial sense IF i can keep the costs down on the battery install. When the solar starts to produce later in the day then any excess will go into the batteries, reducing costs even further.
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