Renewable Energy Systems – The Need for Quality Batteries

There is a growing trend for renewable source of energy being used because of the concerns about climate change the energy security. This has led to the decrease in solar PV and wind prices, rising retail electricity prices and favorable government inventive to renewable source of energy. Since sun and wind energy are free, they can be used to create constant source of power. But, it is affected by the location, the weather and the day time. In addition, better battiery storage is also crucial to be able to store that energy and distribute it.

For storage of renewable energy, there are three key components in the system. The first one is the energy collection, the next is the energy storage and the last is the energy dissemination to the load. Among all the different components of the system, a battery is the most important and the most expensive part of the system. These can last anything between 2-5 years and need to be replaced after that for the system to work. Many times, they might fail before that too and can be expensive to be replaced.

The battery is also the weakest part of the renewable energy system. The solar panels used for solar power can last anything between 20 to 25 years. Thus, during this time, the batteries are needed to be replaced about 5-6 times depending on its usage. Batteries are also heavy, full of lead and sulphuric acid and need regular maintenance for them to last. When people complain about their system, it is usually the batteries that they are complaining about.

The battery is the storage media for the collected energy in the form of DC electricity. The battery stores the electricity converted by the solar module. During the day, the electricity from the module charge charges the battery. During night, the battery discharges power to lights and other applications. Batteries in a solar system are sized to be able to provide several days of electricity in the event that there is rains that lasts for long. High Operating Temperature Battery is best for solar power as they are designed to withstand the head and operate over a large range of charge levels.