Additional Resources

Solar + Storage Overview

As you continue to learn more about solar energy, you may come across the concept of combining solar energy generation with battery storage, commonly referred to as solar + storage. Solar energy storage is an increasingly popular approach to solar energy generation as solar panel technology improves and solar becomes more widely adopted across different types of power users. Solar energy storage is particularly important in situations where solar energy is generated at a different time that it is consumed. For instance, the most power consumed may occur at later times of the day, when solar energy generation is beginning to decrease as the sun sets.

Storage help to balance the electricity supply of homes or businesses even when the sun isn’t shining. As we all know, the amount of sunlight can often differ from day to day. Solar energy production can be affected by season, time of day, clouds, dust, haze, shadows, rain, snow, and dirt. Storage helps to smooth these fluctuations in electricity generation by storing excess electricity that can be tapped into later at times when solar electricity generation may be lower. While solar storage helps to make solar projects more resilient, adding a storage component to a solar installation adds significant costs to the project.

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Benefits of Solar + Storage

1. Balancing electricity loads - if you consume energy at a different time that your solar energy is being generated, storage helps to ensure that you are continuing to consume solar electricity. Enter storage can be filled or charged when generation is high and power consumption is low, then dispensed when the load or demand is high.
2. Firming solar generation - sometimes there can be slight disruptions to solar electricity generation when objects block the path of the sun. For instance, a storage solution would help to ensure stable electricity generation in the case of a passing cloud blocking the sunlight from reaching the solar installation.
3. Providing resilience - In cases where your power may be offline, storage can provide backup power. Storage can be especially beneficial during extreme weather events.

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Additional Resources:

If you'd like to learn more about the costs and constraints behind Solar + Storage in Texas, check out the Texas Solar + Storage Calculator from the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC). The tool helps you to determine if rooftop solar + storage a good fit for your home or business. The calculator helps you evaluate how long it will take a rooftop solar system (with or without battery storage) to pay for itself through energy bill savings, factoring in different finance options and federal tax incentives. It is easy to use and requires only a recent power bill and your address.

The Department of Energy also provides a useful resource to better understand the types of storage options that might be useful for you if you are considering solar + storage.