Posted: 20 January, 2016. Written by Mark
RECC and BRE National Solar Centre (NSC) today launched their ‘Batteries and Solar Power: Guidance for domestic and small commercial consumers’.
This new guide gives consumers an explanation of types of battery storage on the market and how they fit with an existing or new solar PV system. It explains how much electricity a typical battery system will store and under what circumstances, the expected lifetime of a battery system and the associated guarantees and warranties.
The guide goes on to explain what happens to battery systems in winter, when a system might need to take charge from the grid, the different ways a system can be connected to a solar PV system and whether they will work during a power cut.
The guide goes on to look at the typical costs and benefits of installing a battery storage system. This section looks at how consumers with different load profiles are likely to benefit, and includes an indication of how much you are likely to save as a result including what effect installing a battery system is likely to have on your Feed-In Tariff (FIT) income.
Finally the guide contains a list of 20 questions which consumers should ask their battery storage installer before agreeing to the contract.
The BRE NSC was established in 2012 to provide independent evidence based information on solar energy systems and related topics. Its staff is based at Eden Project in Cornwall and BRE head office near Watford.
You can find the consumer guide here.
Hard copies are available on request from info@recc.org.uk