BATTERY STORAGE
The price of batteries is falling at around the rate of 10 to 20% per annum, but the price is still not low enough for a typical household to warrent investment in them, if in fact the owner is looking for a payback of less than 10 years or a ROI of say 5% or more.
There are a multiple of battery technologies available on the market:
- Lead acid and advanced lead acid
- Aquious solutions
- Flow batteries
- Lithium batteries using a number of different chemistries
The configurations of batteries is settling on a range of sizes, between 1.2KWhr to 10Kwhr. Most lithium battery suppliers are offering batteries sized between 5kwhr to 7.5kwhr, with the expectation that this size range will suit the average household.
The Enphase lithium battery comes in sizes of 1.2kwhr each and is modular such that systems can be built up as required. So the size range available is 1.2, 2.4, 3.6, 4.8, 6kwhr etc. For Australian households generally , with a PV solar system say between 3.5kw to 5kw, it is expected that that the 3.6 and 4.8kwhr battery system size would suffice and be an economical size, assuming of course the owner is still grid connected.
MORE TO COME----