My neighbour and I have both installed rooftop solar this past year. Hers is a 5Kw system and mine is a 3Kw system. We are very disappointed by the feed-in tariff being paid to us (6.2c per KW), the high cost to get power from the grid (about 25c per Kw after GST/discounts)and our vulnerability to future price increases.
We are wanting some good advice about going off-grid with battery storage. What are the requirements, how much can we expect to pay for optimal set up and can you recommend a reliable/honest supplier (Melbourne western suburnbs)?
Battery Storage for Household Solar
Shadow54 on 07/06/2015 - 10:20
Comments
It's a game changer, but it's early days. There will be more options to come, for sure the market will be keenly contested.
Do you have a good understanding of your daily usage profile? Possibly you have this already before you selected the size of you Solar System? If not maybe a usage meter might be a good next investment.
Do you have electric hot water? Is your system set up to heat water when you would otherwise export power to the grid?
The Tesla Powerwall is reported to give just 2kW discharge rate, so perhaps you'd need more than one.
Off-grid battery storage system is still pricey.
There is some talk about the new Tesla's Powerwall but not sure how effective it is for continuous cycle use (ie: daily use). This will come next year if you can wait.
http://www.teslamotors.com/en_AU/powerwall
About USD$3.5k for 7Kwh unit I think.
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/05/tesla-powerwall-a-battery-…
Recent article, more towards AUD$10k for 10Kwh fully installed
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/06/tesla-powerwall-crunching-…