One of the more frequently asked questions about solar electric systems regards battery power. More specifically, the amount of battery power needed for a specific system and how to calculate that need. Well, as it turns out, that is a fairly easy question to answer. It all depends on your daily power usage, in watts.

You never want to drain your batteries completely. In fact, you want to stay as far from that as possible. With that in mind, you’ll want to have twice as much capacity in your battery bank as the amount of power you use each day. For example, if you use 2,000 watts of electricity each day, then you’ll need to have 4,000 watts of battery power available to you on any given day. There are several online tools to help you calculate all aspects of your solar system, including your daily energy consumption.

As for batteries, there is but one simple equation. A battery should have its voltage and amp-hour capacity (AH) labeled on it. Simply multiply those two numbers to get that battery’s watt capacity. Remember that 50% is the maximum that you want to drain the batteries, so always err on the side of more capacity.

When you have calculated your daily energy use in watts and you know the how many watts the batteries in front of you are able to hold, you have all the tools you need to easily calculate how many batteries you will need for your specific system.

Before you can buy batteries for your solar system, you’ll need a solar system! Talk to local, certified solar installers today and get on your way to clean, solar energy.

Links:

Choosing Batteries for Your Solar System

Posted on October 1st in Going Solar by Dean.