Storing the Sun
Author: COMAP
Background:
Your team is helping to plan the use of solar power to provide electricity to a 1600 square-foot home being built in a remote area. You need to plan for enough energy to support the energy requirements of the home at night and on a cloudy day. You have done some research and found that you can either pull energy from the grid (i.e. a power company) when your solar panels aren’t producing enough, or use an energy storage system. As the house is in a remote area, the cost of connecting to the grid is very expensive, so you decide to go off-the-grid and invest in energy storage.
An energy storage system allows you to capture electricity, store it as another form of energy (battery, thermal, mechanical) and then have it available to use when needed. The purpose of these storage units is to store energy produced during sunny daylight hours for use when the solar panels do not produce enough energy for the demand (night or cloud covered), or for storage and transfer of excess energy. Of the solar-powered homes that use an energy storage system, most use some sort of battery. Some homeowners have only one large battery, while others may use a “bank of batteries” (two or more batteries connected). Energy storage can be expensive and so homeowners should choose a system that is appropriate for their situation.
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