The main benefit of a battery backup with solar is storing excess solar power thus saving on delivery costs (delivery costs make up about half of the electricity bill).
In other words you maximize your solar power for your own use. A daily benefit rather than just during a power outage. They also allow your solar panels to continue to function during a power outage.
The other benefits are:
- Nearly instant on – Split second not even the stove clock goes off, unlike a fossil fuel generator that takes several seconds to switch on and your computer turns off.
- No moving parts – nothing to wear out. No maintenance. No failure to start because of something is clogged up.
- No weekly “exercising” at 7 am on a Sunday.
- No oil changes after a certain period of time
- Silence – no annoying the neighbors
- No emissions, fumes or pollution
- No delivery of fuel to worry about i.e. icy driveway and truck can’t make it.
- Solar panels continue to function during an outage. Without battery backup they shut off during a power outage as there is no place for the excess electricity to go.
- 30% tax credit from the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act)
Downside is number of hours you can get from the electricity stored. On a multiple day outage you might have to drag out a portable gas generator. But multiple day outages are rare.
Here at this house we’vd had 30 disruptions in electricity this year. 95% were less than 10 minutes. One was for an hour and another was for three hours.