Do you want to keep your solar system powered up for a long time to limit your usage? A Solar battery storage system will be a great addition to your solar power system. During the night-time or when power outages are continuous for a longer time, solar batteries will be your ultimate savior. You can also store excess power that can be used when the solar panels are not capable of generating sufficient energy. Moreover, it will give you more options on how to power up your residential and workplace.
If you are wondering how the solar battery system works, here is the blog to explain the science behind the working mechanism of solar batteries. Moreover, you will learn about different energy storage systems.
Overview of Solar Battery
Solar batteries are devices that can be equipped with your solar system for storing excess electricity, which is by solar panels. You can then use this stored energy to power your home when the solar panels are not functional enough during the night, cloudy days, and power outages.
Solar batteries aim to make good and complete usage of the solar energy produced. When you do not have battery storage, excessive electricity will be returned back into the grid. This simply means you are generating electricity and supplying it to others. Also, this means you are not taking full advantage of the energy generated by the solar panels. This is where you need solar battery storage.
Science Behind The Solar Battery Storage
The lithium-ion battery is the popular form of solar battery on the market today. This is a similar technology used for high-tech batteries and smartphones. These batteries work with a chemical reaction that stores energy in a chemical form before converting it to electrical energy. The reaction takes place when lithium ions release free electrons. Then, the electrons flow from the anode to the cathode.
This reaction is encouraged and enhanced by the lithium salt electrolyte. It further balances the reaction to provide the necessary positive ions. This free electron flow creates the current needed to use electricity.
When electricity is drawn from the battery, the lithium ions will move back through the electrolyte to the positive electrode. Simultaneously, electrons will start moving from the negative electrode to the positive electrode through the circuit. This will further power up the connected device.
How Do Solar Batteries Work with a Solar Power System?
This whole process starts with the solar panels on the roof. It starts generating electricity in a step-by-step process. Here’s what happens with a DC-coupled system:
- Sunlight falls on the solar panels, the PV cells absorb it, and the energy is further converted into DC electricity.
- Next, the power enters the solar battery and is stored as DC electricity.
- In the further step, the DC electricity leaves the battery and enters the inverter to convert it into AC electricity to make it suitable for home use.
The process is different with an AC-coupled system. Here are the steps;
- Sunlight falls on the solar panels, and the energy converts to DC electricity.
- The electricity enters the inverter as AC electricity, which the home can use.
- The remaining excessive power flows through the inverter to change back into DC power for later usage.
- If the house wants to use the energy stored in the solar battery, that electric power must go through the inverter to become AC power.
Home solar storage batteries combine multiple ion battery cells with sophisticated electrons that regulate the performance and safety of the entire solar panel system. For more secure storage, an EP Cube is recommended that has safer LiFePO4 batteries. Further, the solar battery acts as rechargeable batteries using solar energy as the initial input that triggers the entire process of generating electricity.