Should You Install a Solar Battery for Your Home?

Whether you experience frequent power outages, pay high electricity bills, or simply want more energy independence, batteries are a worthy investment for your home. You may not need a home solar panel system to enjoy the benefits of batteries, but you’ll get the most out of your system when you pair them together.

What exactly are home solar batteries?

Batteries store electricity generated now for use later, providing flexibility to meet your needs and supply. If you only have solar panels, any electricity they generate that you don't use goes into the grid. Batteries allow you to store excess electricity for use when your solar panels aren't generating enough electricity to meet your needs.

With most battery systems, there's a limit to how much energy you can store in one system. To store more, you need additional batteries. And, in most cases, batteries can't store electricity indefinitely. Even if you don't draw power from a battery, it slowly loses its charge over time.

Solar Home Batteries: Produce and store energy at home

You don 't need solar power to install a home battery, but remember that batteries can only store energy, they can’t generate it. To truly increase grid independence and save money on your electricity bill, you need to pair a battery system with a solar system. Here' s how it works:

Your solar panels use the sun’s energy to produce direct current (DC) electricity.

The DC solar energy flows through an inverter (or multiple inverters), which converts it into alternating current (AC) electricity, the same energy used by most home appliances.

You use this AC electricity to power your home.

Any excess electricity you don’t consume charges your battery.

When the sun goes down or the power goes out, the energy stored in the battery powers your home.

Home Batteries vs. Generators

Batteries aren’t the only form of home energy storage. If you’ve experienced a power outage in the past, you’ve probably invested in a generator.

But home backup batteries are becoming a more popular option than home generators. They offer many of the same backup power features as traditional generators without the refueling. While they cost more upfront and require an electrician to install, when paired with solar panels, you can “refuel” with solar power for free. They’re also much quieter than generators and don’t come with the health issues associated with emissions.

Are Home Batteries Right for You?

Most batteries have a lifespan of about 10-15 years, which means you’ll have plenty of time to recoup your investment. While many homeowners can benefit from installing a battery system, it’s not right for everyone. Here are a few questions to answer when deciding if you should install a battery in your home:

Do you experience frequent power outages?

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2021, the average U.S. electricity customer experienced less than two power outage events lasting up to seven hours. However, customers in Louisiana and Oregon experienced cumulative outages of more than one day in 2021, on average.

If you experience extended power outages multiple times a year, a solar-plus-storage system may be a worthwhile investment. Unfortunately, solar panels alone cannot power your home during a power outage, as this poses a safety risk to utility workers.

When you install a solar-plus-storage system with islanding capabilities (meaning it has the proper equipment and wiring to automatically disconnect from the grid during a power outage), you can continue to operate your home even if the grid loses power.

Do the savings outweigh the costs?

Based on thousands of quotes from EnergySage, a 10-kWh battery will cost about $8,000 by 2024, after federal tax credits. That’s a high price, but if you decide that a battery is right for you based on the answers to the questions we’ve listed so far, it will pay you back over time.

For example, if you’re a homeowner in California who wants to go solar, your utility will set you up with a specific TOU rate plan, and you won’t be able to use net metering, making it a good fit for a home battery. By installing a solar-plus-storage system in California instead of solar-only, you could save between $21,600 and $43,900 over 20 years. So, despite the higher upfront costs, you could recoup your investment 1-2 years sooner.

But if you live in an area with net metering, where your electricity rates are fixed and don’t change over time, the only financial savings from installing storage would be avoiding blackouts or taking advantage of any available state incentives. In those cases, you won’t save any more money by adding a battery to your solar panel system.