How to Get the Most From Your Solar Battery System This Winter
As the days get shorter and solar generation begins to drop, the way you use your solar battery may need to change too.
During summer, your battery may spend much of its time storing surplus solar energy to use later in the day. In winter, with fewer daylight hours and typically higher household electricity use, there may not always be enough solar generation to fully recharge it.
That doesn't make battery storage any less useful. With a few adjustments, you can continue getting plenty of value from your system throughout the colder months.
Review Your Charging Schedule
A solar battery doesn't necessarily need the same settings all year round.
During winter, it can make sense to charge your battery from the grid during cheaper overnight periods, particularly if you're on a time-of-use electricity tariff.
You can then use that lower-cost stored electricity when grid prices are higher during the day.
If your charging schedule was set up during the summer, check that the times still match your current tariff and household routine.
Should You Fully Charge Your Battery Overnight?
Not always.
If you charge your battery to 100% overnight and the following day turns out to be bright and sunny, there may be little room left to store the solar electricity your panels generate.
On a grey winter day, a larger overnight charge may make sense. If sunshine is forecast, leaving some spare capacity for solar generation could be more beneficial.
How much you charge will depend on your battery size, electricity usage, tariff and solar system.
Check Your Battery Reserve
Your battery reserve determines how much stored energy is kept back rather than being used to power your home.
For systems with backup functionality (check out our blog 'What Happens to Your Solar Panels During a Power Cut?'), keeping some battery capacity in reserve can provide additional protection during a power cut.
However, setting the reserve higher than necessary means less of your battery is available for everyday use.
It's worth reviewing this setting during winter to make sure it still reflects what you want your battery to do.
Make Sure Your Tariff Works With Your Battery
The right electricity tariff can make a big difference to the savings available from battery storage.
Tariffs with cheaper overnight electricity can allow you to charge your battery when electricity costs less and use that energy during more expensive periods.
If you've changed tariff since your solar system was installed, check that your battery settings have changed with it. Charging at the wrong time could mean you're unnecessarily buying more expensive electricity.
Change When You Use Electricity
Even during winter, your solar panels will still generate electricity during daylight hours.
Where practical, shifting appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers into the middle of the day can help you use more of your solar electricity directly.
It's also worth considering larger electrical loads such as EV chargers, immersion heaters and heat pumps. Depending on your tariff and system, these may be better scheduled for periods of cheap grid electricity rather than allowing them to quickly drain your home battery.
Take a Look at Your Solar App
One of the easiest ways to improve your system is simply to understand what it's currently doing.
Spend five minutes looking at your solar monitoring app and check:
When your battery is charging and discharging
How much electricity you're importing from the grid
When your household uses the most electricity
Whether your battery is regularly empty by the evening
Whether it's already full before your panels start generating
Small changes to the way your battery is configured can sometimes make a surprisingly big difference.
Get Your Solar Battery Ready for Winter
Lower solar generation during winter is completely normal. The key is making the best use of the energy your panels do produce while using your battery and electricity tariff intelligently.
If you're unsure whether your battery charging schedule, reserve settings or electricity tariff are working as effectively as they could be, Optimum Electrics can help.
We install and maintain solar PV and battery storage systems and can also advise on upgrading or adding battery storage to an existing solar installation.
Optimum Electrics is MCS, NICEIC and HIES accredited and an Octopus Energy Trusted Partner. We design and install solar, battery storage and EV charging systems across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Cambridge, Bedford, Northampton and Leicester.
📧 enquiries@optimumelectrics.co.uk | 📞 01733 601698
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