Hi All,
So what is hybrid solar? Well the definition I favor is simply, a grid- tied solar panel system with battery storage. There has been quite lot of talk about Tesla's new power wall battery and this may lead to a rise in hybrid systems in the near future.
So why have a Hybrid solar power system? As the battery's are still quite expensive to me there are few circumstances or scenario's where it might make sense.
1. Critical Loads, that is where in the event of a grid-outage (blackout) you still must have power to run critical loads, this could be to power a medical device or critical infrastructure like servers etc. If this is the case you need to determine how much power you need as a minimum and for how long. This is difficult as who knows how long a black out will last, a generator will also be required in this scenario.
2. Wanting to reduce your night time grid usage. Now while this is very doable in many instances it just wont make financial sense. If you are charged at a high rate per kWh (kilowatt hour) you could look at the viability of shifting your night time usage to your batteries. The thing to remember here is you need to size your solar pv array to be large enough to both charge your batteries and run the house loads during the day time. NOTE, even though you might get say 8 or 10 daylight hours a day that is not how solar isolation is measured, best to think of it as you only get 4 or 5 usable day light hours in summer and maybe half that in winter. You do not want to be in a situation where you are forced to charge your battery's from the grid as this is defeating the purpose of having battery's in the first place. Each situation will be different that is why you need to talk to an experienced solar pro as this needs to be planned and designed correctly.
3. Peak Shaving, this is more for commercial applications as I see it and depends on how a customer is billed for their electricity consumption. Commercial customers who have large mains feeds can be billed with a type of sliding scale that is determined by how much peak power the poco (power company) needs to deliver. For example we have a supermarket client who has a 100kW system on their roof, over the last year this has both reduced their bill and we suspect (yet to be tested) reduced their peak demand. Its possible that if we add battery storage to the existing PV system we could further reduce peak demand thus decreasing their overall bill. Its still early days with this scenario but its getting closer to reality the cheaper the storage options get.
So what equipment do you need to run a hybrid solar system? Well the same as a normal solar pv system with the addition of a battery/batteries and either a hybrid inverter or a charge controller (CC) and perhaps a BMS (battery management system) .
So this is a new stickie so please comment/correct/improve etc
Here is a link to a large hybrid solar panel system. http://s12.photobucket.com/user/pete...?sort=3&page=1
Cheers
So what is hybrid solar? Well the definition I favor is simply, a grid- tied solar panel system with battery storage. There has been quite lot of talk about Tesla's new power wall battery and this may lead to a rise in hybrid systems in the near future.
So why have a Hybrid solar power system? As the battery's are still quite expensive to me there are few circumstances or scenario's where it might make sense.
1. Critical Loads, that is where in the event of a grid-outage (blackout) you still must have power to run critical loads, this could be to power a medical device or critical infrastructure like servers etc. If this is the case you need to determine how much power you need as a minimum and for how long. This is difficult as who knows how long a black out will last, a generator will also be required in this scenario.
2. Wanting to reduce your night time grid usage. Now while this is very doable in many instances it just wont make financial sense. If you are charged at a high rate per kWh (kilowatt hour) you could look at the viability of shifting your night time usage to your batteries. The thing to remember here is you need to size your solar pv array to be large enough to both charge your batteries and run the house loads during the day time. NOTE, even though you might get say 8 or 10 daylight hours a day that is not how solar isolation is measured, best to think of it as you only get 4 or 5 usable day light hours in summer and maybe half that in winter. You do not want to be in a situation where you are forced to charge your battery's from the grid as this is defeating the purpose of having battery's in the first place. Each situation will be different that is why you need to talk to an experienced solar pro as this needs to be planned and designed correctly.
3. Peak Shaving, this is more for commercial applications as I see it and depends on how a customer is billed for their electricity consumption. Commercial customers who have large mains feeds can be billed with a type of sliding scale that is determined by how much peak power the poco (power company) needs to deliver. For example we have a supermarket client who has a 100kW system on their roof, over the last year this has both reduced their bill and we suspect (yet to be tested) reduced their peak demand. Its possible that if we add battery storage to the existing PV system we could further reduce peak demand thus decreasing their overall bill. Its still early days with this scenario but its getting closer to reality the cheaper the storage options get.
So what equipment do you need to run a hybrid solar system? Well the same as a normal solar pv system with the addition of a battery/batteries and either a hybrid inverter or a charge controller (CC) and perhaps a BMS (battery management system) .
So this is a new stickie so please comment/correct/improve etc
Here is a link to a large hybrid solar panel system. http://s12.photobucket.com/user/pete...?sort=3&page=1
Cheers
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