Consider Installing Electrical Backup Power For Your Home
A battery-less grid-tied PV system is in many ways the essence of simplicity. Reliable and essentially maintenance-free, it is ideally suited to a family accustomed to utility power. But the chief limitation is lack of backup power during a utility outage. If you want backup power for “critical” loads, such as refrigeration or lighting, there are three common approaches.
The first approach is to install a battery-based grid-tied system. If you want electricity for your home when the grid (and with it your solar system) go down, Positive Energy can provide a backup power option that will work as an integral part of your solar system. It’s always best to contact a good Houston Electrician when making upgrades to your home’s electrical system.
However, while a battery backup system works well when properly designed and installed, it will add cost and complexity to the system. It will be slightly less efficient than a battery-less system, as it must balance AC production with charging and maintaining batteries, rather than solely maximizing AC production into the grid. It also will usually supply only enough stored power to support selected house loads during a typical short-duration utility outage, though solar-generated energy will extend this duration if the sun shines during the outage. Our standard packages are designed to support a modest load profile during a typical outage of short duration: A typical battery bank of four 100 amp-hour maintenance-free sealed batteries provides about four kilowatt-hours of usable power before it must be recharged; this would be a hard limit for most households at night or during a snowstorm.
Adding a generator to a battery-based grid-tied PV system will extend the system’s backup duration until the fuel runs out or you tire of the noise. With our good design and execution, this second approach can work well. However, the system is complex and thus fairly costly. It must be set up and programmed to work reliably and automatically, and must be tested and exercised regularly if it’s to be relied upon. To ensure all code is followed it’s easy to contact an Electrician Houston in the area to install any new backup power.
The third approach is to install a separate generator and transfer switch as a backup source during outages without tying the systems together. The disadvantages are that switchover to the backup source is not instantaneous, and with batteries eliminated, the generator must run continuously whenever backup power is needed. Advantages include the simplicity of separate, conventional systems, each supported as necessary by its separate provider and each optimized to a single task. An entire market has developed for generators for residential standby use.
If a grid outage is no more than an inconvenience, we suggest that you install a battery-less system and enjoy the occasional meal by candlelight when the grid goes down. If power during an outage is critical and typical outages are infrequent and of short duration, a grid-tied system with battery backup is a good choice. If an outage would be potentially catastrophic, such as a home medical oxygen generator for an invalid, the battery and PV recharge capacity of a battery-based grid-tied system will be insufficient, and a backup generator will be a wiser choice. Consult with us or a reputable generator dealer to determine the best approach for your needs.
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