Comparing a Battery system to conventional generator

Comparing a Battery system to conventional generator



Regarding the battery system, doing a grid tied battery system is normally not done. For backup power, you would be looking for a combustion engine generator if you want to run the house. If you are looking for just a few items to backup, you can do it, but it is 3 times the price to do what a standby generator can do.

A battery system that can do 9kw of output which is the most of any system. Tesla is 5kw. I attached a slide with some comparisons

 

 


I will give you the quickest rundown of the pros and cons of each way.

 

Solar - This is the producing of power by using solar panels to capture energy and turn it into usable voltage to run electricity.

  • Pros - Lowers your electric bill and will pay for itself. Improved home value. Reduce emissions and carbon footprint

  • Cons - Panels can be expensive, payback subject to the location and direction the panels are pointed. Not a backup system.

  • Average cost/ Ballpark range - $30,000 to $55,000

Solar with batteries - This is producing electricity and storing it in your home with either lead acid or lithium ion batteries. After batteries are topped off it will send excess back into the grid to spin the meter backwards.

  • Pros - Same as above with ability to store and use energy as back up power.

  • Cons - Expensive! Depending on the system it is limited to on output.  9kw is the highest range of output by any system. Adding more batteries only extends the time you can last in outage not output. Batteries will go bad and must be replaced. Takes up alot of room. Must select the circuits that you want on batteries and will not run whole house at this time. Future technology will add more coverage.   

  • Average cost/ Ballpark range - $50,000 to $85,000

NG Generator - Natural gas or LP generator is combustion engine that creates back up power.

  • Pros - Cheapest raw backup power you can buy per KW.

  • Cons - It still has emissions but only while running.

  • Average cost/ Ballpark range - $10,000 to $30,000

I really need to know what you are trying to do, so we can design something. As you can see, it is complicated, and the codes for all systems are different for jurisdictions and utilities. To help get you what you want, just let me know what you are trying to backup on the system. If they are large loads or the whole house, it cannot be accomplished with some of the smaller battery systems, and we just want to get the expectations correct.


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