Get more from your solar system with a modern solar battery retrofit

Yes, there are a few common types of solar batteries – though lithium-ion batteries, such as Tesla’s Powerwall, are the most common nowadays. You would have to go out of your way to get something different as lithium-ion is considered the modern standard.

To understand what size of solar battery you require, you’ll need to work out your average daily energy consumption. This will help you understand how much power you actually use each day, and therefore how much you might need to store for those cloudier days or evenings.

You can start working this out yourself with a few easy rules of thumb, which you can find here in our battery size guide. Or, talk to our team today and we’ll help you work out what battery will work best for your unique property.

Yes, solar batteries with blackout protection are designed to work when the grid goes down – helping to ensure you still have power when the grid fails. If this is a concern for you, let's chat about your options during your consultation. 

This is partially up to you, though we’ll make some recommendations once we’ve viewed your property.

Some property owners store their solar batteries in their garage, as modern batteries like the Tesla Powerwall 3 are designed to be sleek and compact, fitting in anywhere they’re placed.

Batteries can also be stored outside if there’s no suitable indoor area, though they would need to be protected from harsh weather.

How long a solar battery can hold its charge depends on the battery, and the amount of energy being stored. We would expect most modern batteries to be able to hold their charge for several days, if not weeks, assuming low usage.

As for their lifespan, solar batteries should last several years to more than a decade (depending on usage, climate and maintenance, among other factors).

You won’t stop generating solar power just because the battery is full. If your solar battery reaches capacity, the extra charge will be diverted away from your property and ‘exported’ to the grid. In many cases, such as if you’ve joined a VPP network, you may be able to sell your excess energy back at a premium rate or receive a billing discount in return.

Yes, you can stay with your regular electricity provider even after you install solar. Solar panels and grid power can be used at the same time, allowing you to continue to draw electricity to top up your solar system during periods of high usage, or if your batteries run out. 

That said, you’ll need to inform your power provider as this could impact your billing. 

Learn more: Can you use solar panels and electricity at the same time? 

You’ll need to consider a few things to understand the right size of solar power system for your property: 

1. Your daily energy usage 
2. Your local climate 
3. Your energy goals – whether you want to go full or only partially off-grid 

A simple rule of thumb is to divide your daily power usage (in kilowatt hours, or kWh) by four. This gives you the size of the solar panel system in kilowatts that will likely be sufficient to meet your average needs. So, if you determine you use about 32 kWh per day in power, an 8 kW system will probably meet your needs. 

Of course, determining what size of solar power system is right for you is part of the consultation process, so we can help you with this.