Battery Storage for Solar Energy - How Does It Work?

You can add a solar battery to your solar power system to increase its efficiency. In addition to helping you store excess electricity, it gives you more options for how to power your home when your solar panels don't generate enough.

Looking for an explanation of “How do solar batteries work? We will explain a solar battery in detail, the science behind solar batteries, how solar batteries work with solar power systems, and the overall advantages of solar battery storage.

Solar batteries: what are they?

How do solar batteries work? To answer that question, let's start with a simple explanation:

To store excess electricity generated by your solar panels, you can add a solar battery to your solar power system.

During power outages, at night, and on cloudy days, you can use that stored energy to power your home.

You can use more of the solar energy you create with a solar battery. If you don't have battery storage, any excess electricity from solar power goes to the grid, so you are generating power and providing it to others without fully utilizing the electricity your panels create.

Solar batteries: the science behind them

There are several types of solar batteries available on the market, but lithium-ion batteries are the most popular. This is the same type of battery used in smartphones and other high-tech devices.

A lithium-ion battery works by storing chemical energy and then converting it into electrical energy through a chemical reaction. When lithium ions release free electrons, these electrons flow from a negatively charged anode to a positively charged cathode, causing the reaction to occur.

A lithium-salt electrolyte inside the battery facilitates this movement by providing the necessary positive ions. The flow of free electrons in the electrolyte generates the electric current people need to operate their devices.

During the process of drawing electricity from the battery, lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode via the electrolyte, and electrons travel between the negative electrode and positive electrode via the outer circuit.

Multiple lithium ion battery cells combine to make up home solar power storage batteries that are controlled by sophisticated electronics to ensure their performance and safety. Thus, solar batteries function as rechargeable batteries that use the energy of the sun as the initial input that kickstarts the entire process of creating an electrical current.

Technology comparison of battery storage

There are two common types of ess solar battery: lithium-ion and lead-acid. Solar panel companies prefer lithium-ion batteries because they are able to store more energy, hold that energy for longer, and have a higher Depth of Discharge.

Alternatively, Depth of Discharge is the percentage of a battery's capacity that can safely be used before it needs to be recharged. For example, if a battery has a DoD of 95%, it can safely use 95% of its capacity before it needs to be recharged.

Batteries made of lithium-ion

As mentioned previously, battery manufacturers prefer lithium-ion battery technology for its high DoD, reliable lifespan, ability to hold more energy for longer, and smaller size. Despite these numerous advantages, lithium-ion batteries are also more expensive than lead-acid batteries due to their numerous benefits.

Batteries made of lead-acid

Since the advent of electric vehicles, lead-acid batteries (the same technology as most car batteries) have been widely used as in-home energy storage systems. Although they are still available at pocket-friendly prices, their popularity is waning because of low DoD and shorter lifespans.