In Part 1 we discussed regarding benefits of investing in a solar PV panels. But what if all the electricity generated cannot be used on site? What happens if your companies peak working hours are at night or you work a five day week? Well, that’s where battery storage comes in.
Introducing battery storage into the system can further improve the utilisation of solar generation by storing the electricity generated during daylight and using it when required.
A battery linked with your PV system could improve your utilisation of the PV output from typically around 65% to nearer 80%. Also, it can take advantage of any generation that occurs outside normal working hours, such as weekends.
Not only that, but battery storage also has other benefits. If you are on a dual tariff power supply, it is also possible to store cheaper off peak electricity at night and use it during the day.
With the financial returns received from exported electricity (via Smart Export Guarantee – SEG that is typically only 5p/kWh), it makes more sense to offset costly imported electricity and use as much of the power generated on your site as possible.
Of course, if you are able to invest in a large battery system, then it would be possible to participate in supporting the national grid. Renewable energy, by its very nature of relying on wind and sunlight, is very variable and matching supply to demand is not so easy. That is why we need a varied mix of energy resources to meet the country’s electricity demand.
Part of that mix is the provision of battery storage. With lots of battery storage facilities connected into the grid, they can act like an expansion vessel, helping to meet demand at time of low output and storing output at time of low demand. You would still have the use of the battery storage for your own system as the grid network would only use the spare capacity.
The National Grid will pay for this facility, and this could considerably reduce the payback of a large battery system to under five years, making it a very good investment opportunity.
The important aspect is to carefully consider each client’s energy usage profile to ensure these benefits can be achieved in practical, real terms.
FLATT can carry out an energy review of your offices and provide a report to advice on the best renewable technologies to consider.
For this reason, it is also important to try and match the PV/battery sizing with your demand profile so that the chances of exporting are minimised.
A battery linked with your PV system could improve your utilisation of the PV output from typically around 65% to nearer 80%.
