A solar panel battery – or deep-cycle battery used in a PV system – stores energy from the solar modules to provide power at night.
How efficient are solar panel batteries?
Deep-cycle batteries recover about 80% of the energy they receive, unlike shallow-cycle batteries that only recover about 20%. These batteries last five to ten years and can be recycled.
Photo Credit: wholesalesolar.com
Where should solar batteries be stored?
Because most batteries for solar panels have some level of off-gassing, and contain toxic chemicals, it is best to store them in a well-ventilated area away from living spaces and electronics, but a space that can be easily accessed for maintenance.
Solar panel batteries must be sized appropriately for your home, taking into account climate, days of autonomy desired, the size of the PV array and other input devices. The cost varies accordingly.
A small gasoline or propane powered back-up generator is the perfect compliment to a PV system. Not only will it be available for unanticipated outages of the array, a generator will allow for a reduction in the size of the battery bank, as well as the array.
