Home Energy Storage System- How to Choose The Right Type of Battery?

Home energy storage systems are life savers. Currently, electricity bills are emptying bank accounts, while power outages are interrupting daily life. In these difficult times, home energy storage systems provide uninterrupted daily lives and slash electricity bills. 

However, the question is, what makes these home energy storage systems so popular? The batteries – batteries are the main component of these systems and decide whether a system is up to the task or not. So, choosing the right type of battery is most important.

Home Energy Storage System

Home energy storage systems store energy from solar panels or electric grids. The system consists of five major components.

1.Solar Batteries: Solar batteries are the main component of this system and store solar energy in the form of chemical energy.

2.Inverter: It converts direct current (DC) electricity to alternative current (AC) electricity to flow in the house circuit. AC is the standard form of power for appliances.

3.Battery Management System (BMS): It protects the battery from damage by monitoring critical parameters like voltage, current, state of charge, and temperature.

4.Hybrid Inverter: It ensures the proper charging and discharging of the battery.

5.Energy Management System (EMS): It optimizes the performance and efficiency of the system by controlling and monitoring the energy flow.

How to Choose the Right Type of Battery for a Home Energy Storage System?

A battery or array of batteries is a home energy storage system's main and most important component. So, it's critical to choose the right type of battery for the system to perform efficiently and for a longer period.

The following are the factors you should consider seriously when choosing the right type of battery.

Battery Chemistry

Battery chemistry indicates what elements or electrolyte solutions are used in the battery to store solar energy as chemical energy. The chemistry determines how efficient a battery is and whether it’s safe to use in residential settings.

The three most commonly used batteries in residential settings, each having a different chemical composition.

Lead-Acid Battery

A lead-acid battery uses an electrolyte solution of sulphuric acid. The manufacturers of these batteries proudly claim to have the top reusable energy products. The most common types of lead-acid batteries are flooded and sealed batteries, with sealed batteries being more famous.

They are efficient in performance and help cut low electricity bills. Additionally, these batteries are less expensive than other home storage batteries.

Lithium-Ion Battery

Lithium-ion batteries use lithium ions to store chemical energy by moving these ions from the anode to the cathode. These batteries have gained quick popularity because of their lightweight, compact size, larger storage capacity, and efficient performance.

They are comparatively expensive. The most common types of lithium-ion batteries are LFP (lithium iron phosphate) and NMC (nickel manganese cobalt).

Flow Battery

The chemical composition of a flow battery does not involve any heavy or toxic elements. These eco-friendly batteries use liquid electrolyte solutions pumped through electrochemical cells available in separate tanks.

These batteries are popular among homeowners because of their eco-friendly nature and lowest safety risk.

Battery Capacity

The right type of battery also depends on your requirements. You need a battery to power your essential appliances and electric devices. To know how much capacity you need, first measure the amount of daily power consumption of your building or the appliances that need uninterrupted power.

Battery capacity is measured in kilowatt-hours, so it is best if you calculate the power requirement in the same unit.

Power Rating

The definition of battery power rating is how much energy can it provide or how many devices can it support. It is different from battery capacity. No home storage battery can deliver the same amount of energy that it can support because some of the energy is used by the home energy storage system.

A battery has two types of power ratings:

• Continuous power rating
• Peak power rating
  
  

A battery's continuous power rating indicates how much energy it can provide continuously. In comparison, a solar battery's Peak power rating indicates how much energy it can provide at once or in a short time.

Please note that a battery with a high capacity and low power rating runs longer than a battery with a low capacity and high power rating.

Depth of Discharge (DoD)

Depth of discharge indicates the amount of power a battery has used. Many manufacturers claim that a higher DoD ratio means the battery performs optimally. A higher depth of discharge ratio also means you can utilize more battery energy or use it for a long time.

However, a higher DoD ratio can also mean the battery’s lifespan will be shorter. So, choosing a battery with an 80% DoD rating is better.

Round-Trip Efficiency

Everything has a cost, and so does storing energy in a solar battery. The energy storage system (ESS) uses some power to store the energy in a battery and to release it to the connected appliances, which is called round-trip efficiency.

The higher the round-trip efficiency rating is the better a battery performs. For example, a solar panel gives 10 kWh of energy, but the battery only provides 7 kWh, which means the battery has 70% round-trip efficiency.

An efficient storage battery has 80% or more round-trip efficiency. The Innotinum batteries have 80% and above round-trip efficiency rates.

Lifespan

Investment in home energy storage systems is a once-in-a-while decision. So, it’s better if the product has a longer lifespan. A battery is the most important and expensive component of ESS. The longer the battery's lifespan, the longer the ESS. 

You can estimate the lifespan of a battery with three elements:

• The number of expected Cycles (number of times a battery fully charges and discharges)
• Expected Operating years 
• Estimated Throughput (the expected amount of energy a battery delivers over time)

You should choose the home storage battery that promises to operate at least 70% of its original storage limit after ten years of purchase.

Recommendations for Best Home Energy Storage Battery

So many companies are making home storage batteries, each claiming to have manufactured the best ones. However, the reviews and feedback of homeowners tell a different story. Following are the batteries with so many good reviews from the users:

• Innotinum
• Tesla PowerWall
• Panasonic EverVolt
• LG Home8
• Generac PWRcell
• Enphase IQ 5P

But we will again advise you to consider all aspects even when buying these batteries. Who knows, you might find a better one.