The perennial question: does solar need batteries?
The straight, simple answer: not necessarily.
Why?
In order to answer the Why question, we will need to dive into the topic of Grid Tie Solar. Grid-tie solar systems are the most common and most widely used, especially in homes and businesses in the Philippines today. Grid-tie solar system in the Philippines interconnects solar power with grid power. These solar systems do not use batteries. They do not need batteries, because there is no need to store power. When it is daytime, the power comes from solar. When it’s night time, the power comes from the grid. There’s another plus factor with a grid-tie system. When you use more electricity than your solar is producing, then you will start importing from the grid – in other words, you will be consuming electricity from the utility company. When you produce more power than you consume, the excess or surplus power generated can be exported to the grid using the Net Metering program of the utility company. The exported power is paid via credits, which can be used later on. Electricity sent to the grid from your solar system can then be used by other consumers on the grid (such as your neighbors). If you want to lower your electric bills and reduce it from 30% to 70%, or even eliminate it and make it a #ZeroBill, then the On-Grid system is the best solution. You save money and you reduce your carbon footprint, thus saving the environment at the same time.
What about the solar systems that have batteries?
There are, of course, some clients who require the reliability of instant backup power. That can only be provided by solar systems with batteries. With an off-grid solar system or hybrid solar system, you can maximize excess solar harvest by storing the power in the batteries for evening consumption. Batteries provide a buffer, for times when the sun is not enough and loads have to be continuously supplied with sustained energy.
The talk about lithium
The best kind of batteries that technology has to offer in the market today are lithium batteries. Solaric has installed hundreds of solar panel systems with batteries for clients all throughout the archipelago, including commercial, industrial, and military clients. There are some projects that require zero power outages, such as radar or mission-critical communication systems. In such instances, Solaric has designed customized solar systems that power entire islands or radar facilities – those that have zero diesel, zero oil, and zero grid.
And then there’s SMILE
SMILE Lithium battery hybrid system: a European design award winner and very popular in countries where the government actually pays the consumer to put in batteries to help manage the grid. It works like the regular grid-tie solar system in the Philippines but with a twist — a smart system that detects if there is excess power and diverts it proportionately to battery charging, before selling it to the utility for a discount. It also detects when the entire house is starting to use grid power. When that happens, it proportionately discharges the battery, keeping grid power consumption to zero until the batteries run out. In times of calamities or power outages, it can supply a steady 5000w of critical loads until the batteries run out, and gets recharged by the sun the next day. This setup is highly beneficial and self-sustaining. Again, these types of setups are requested by those who are serious in disaster management or are in power-starved locations. Such systems like these are expensive and cost about 50% to 70% more than the grid-tie systems.
Turn on the sun
Solaric has established its name across the renewable industry as a proven and reputable rooftop solar leader. Solaric has installed more than 50% of residential rooftop solar and remains the number one choice for corporate and industrial solar projects in the Philippines.
For more information, call Solaric at 0917.860.3141 or 0908.377.5577 or 5040092, or send an email to info@solaric.com.ph or visit www.solaric.com.ph for more details. We will gladly explain solar to you and how the systems work and schedule a survey so we can give you options for your new home or existing homes or businesses.
At Solaric, we Turn on the Sun.