Green energy source like solar power system is gradually becoming a necessity in households. Having a solar power backup is crucial to keep your appliances running in all conditions. A backup solar battery will provide power in unforeseen or unexpected circumstances, either at work or at home.
The increased use of solar energy in homes, the workplace, and critical medical machines explain why a backup battery is a must-have. Powering your entire home with solar energy is a significant stride towards saving the environment and your money. Solar power is an excellent way to utilize natural resources like the sun.
The Components of A Solar Power System
A solar power system comprises solar panels (photovoltaic PV panels), an inverter, and a rack that holds everything in place. Depending on the system size and electric meter, inverters can be large-scale or small to make up for the power output needed. The government subsidizes most large-scale solar generators, making them affordable to massive firms and industries.
Therefore, before installing a solar system, you must know the power output and the inverter required size. Further, you also need an emergency solar battery backup as it will come in handy in some circumstances, like an accidental power outage. On the other hand, we’re talking about a few bulbs and appliances for some time to light up a home. However, it can’t light up your entire house for too long.
Solar Inverter and How It Works
A solar inverter is the heart of a solar power system, as it converts the energy from solar panels to electricity to light up the house. It takes the Direct Current (DC) from solar panels and transforms it to alternating 120V or 240V current or Alternating Current (AC) output. Home appliances function on AC, not the DC, collected by solar panels. Therefore, you need a solar inverter to transform DC to AC and make it usable. Additionally, solar backup power will keep your home or workplace running, as usual, even when there’s power loss, or you’re off the grid.
When the sun shines on solar panels, semiconductor layers of photovoltaic (PV) cells absorb the heat. The layers are a combination of positive and negative that connect at a junction. This energy moves around bumps on loses electrons in the positive and negative layers.
As a result, an electric current (DC) is produced, which can either be stored in a battery to use later or sent to an inverter for instant consumption. The current gets to the inverter as DC. It’s then put through a transformer which turns it to AC ready for consumption. If you want an off-grid experience, a portable power station as a backup will power up your small appliances.
Types of Inverters
Inverters are of three types, but they vary in scope. All three categories perform the same functions. Here are the categories.
Central Inverters
Central inverters are the largest and are prevalent in utility-scale systems like solar farms. They can range from 100kw to megawatts, and their design enables them to connect to the electric grid. It’s for this reason they come with a power station. The large-scale inverters are a good investment since the government subsidy makes them cheaper and easy to install and manage.
String Inverters
String inverters are mainly used for residential and commercial appliances. The sizes range from 1kw to 100kw, and they come in three types: Hybrid, on-grid, and off-grid. Each type depends on the project requirements.
Micro-inverters
Micro-inverters are the youngest of the three categories but are slowly gaining a reasonable market share. As the title suggests, micro-inverters are limited to residential solar PV systems. However, the technology upgrades gradually for commercial and utility-scale applications. They range from 250W - 1kW, and it harbors 1 - 4 PV modules.
DC-DC converters are easily confused with micro-inverters, but they vary in function. The former is only converters and not inverters. They transform DC voltage and current from PV to allow maximum energy production levels and require inverters to function maximally.
Factors to Consider When Buying A Solar Inverter for Your Solar Power System
The three types of inverters transform DC to AC, making them usable. Before installing a solar power system in your home, here are a few things you need to know when shopping for inverters.
Warranties
Purchasing an electronic device with a warrant makes you trust the product, and there’s no exception for solar inverters. Depending on the brand you buy, warranties range from 5 to 10 years, while some extend to 25 years. In addition, ensure you understand the warranty terms in case of a glitch or external damage by asking any relevant questions during purchase.
Operating Temperatures
Like other electronic devices, inverters function well when cool. The operating temperature is the safest temperature range an inverter can maintain. The devices generate heat as they perform, and due to the surroundings, they may be forced to work harder to function maximally. Therefore, the higher the operating temperature an inverter can handle, the better.
Efficiency
Inverter efficiency is in two numbers; weight and peak efficiency. The former gives you the inverter’s best output when it’s functioning optimally, and it’s good to know how the device behaves after hitting such levels. Sometimes, reaching peak efficiency might be brief (an hour or two), or it may never reach that level. Weighted efficiency brings in the variables like DC input levels, providing accurate measures of sunshine, environmental factors, and day temperatures.
Benefits of a Solar Battery Backup
Installing a solar system will save you money while saving the environment from pollution. However, for a seamless transition when there’s power loss, investing in an emergency backup, the solar power system will keep your systems running at home or the workplace. Here are the significant benefits of investing in a solar battery backup.
Backup Power
A solar battery backup is a proper storage for excess energy for later use. It comes to play anytime you face a power outage, which is inevitable. You don’t have to stop working because of a power outage because a solar battery backup will provide sufficient energy to run your appliances as usual.
Going Off-Grid
Some solar battery backups work efficiently off the grid. This is to say that your solar panel can produce more than enough power to run your home throughout the year and store some in the backup battery. In other words, you build an off grid solar power system. While purchasing a solar backup battery, ensure its capacity can assume energy functions for a few hours.
Managing Grid Cost
A solar battery backup can help you fully maximize the energy produced by your solar system. Even without going off the grid, you can still use the backup battery because there will always be excess energy. As a result, you save on energy without having to take your home or workplace off the grid.
Conclusion
Electricity consumption is costly and also hurts the environment as it burns fossil fuels. Currently, the earth is getting warmer, and as a result, the world is experiencing extreme weather calamities. However, installing solar panels will rid the world of such disasters as the energy is green and eco-friendly. After installing a solar system, get a backup battery to store excess energy, which will always be in sufficient supply. This way, you can power appliances at home or off the grid and function usually.
