Tag: grid edge

Battery power rating

Posted on by Linda

Before purchasing any battery storage it is critical that you understand what you want to do with the battery. If you only want to shift some energy generated from your solar panels during the day to be used at night and don’t mind if you don’t have power when the grid goes down it isn’t as critical that your battery needs to be able to provide all the power you need.

However, if you want to be energy independent and want to have power in times of power outages (as most people do that purchase batteries) then you need a battery that is capable of running your house for a period of time. You need to consider your appliances and what you consider essential and determine what power will be drawn down by all of them. As can be seen in the above image you may need multiples of some battery technologies to accomplish this which may greatly increase the cost of an installation. Continue reading “Battery power rating” →

Climate of the Nation 2017 Australian attitudes on climate change

Posted on by Linda

 

  1. Climate Change: The majority of Australians agree that climate change is occurring (71 %) and accept the scientific consensus that human activity is the main cause (57 %).2. Action: The majority of Australians want Australia to address climate change because they see strong economic, environmental and social benefits and opportunities in the shift to a clean economy (73 %).
    Continue reading “Climate of the Nation 2017 Australian attitudes on climate change” →

Voters say yes to renewables says Essential Research Australian poll

Posted on by Linda

 

 

A recent Essential Research Australian poll found that almost two out of three people agree that more renewable energy is the solution to future energy needs, and a similar amount approve of Labor’s 50 per cent renewable energy target. In other significant findings 71 per cent think the Federal Government is not doing enough to ensure affordable, reliable and clean energy for households and businesses and 45 per cent blame blackouts on failures of the energy market during extreme weather.

Climate change: 60% (up 6% since December) agree that climate change is happening and is caused by human activity and 25% (down 2%) believe that we may just be witnessing a normal fluctuation in the earth’s climate. By age groups, those aged under 35 split 70%/15% and those aged 55+ split 47%/40%. People with higher education were more likely to think climate change is happening and is caused by human activity – those with university degrees split 72%/19%. Continue reading “Voters say yes to renewables says Essential Research Australian poll” →

GridEdge and the FZSoNick battery

Posted on by Linda

GridEdge is a company that delivers both off grid and on grid energy supply to all levels of consumer demand. 

GridEdge has the Australian and New Zealand distributor rights to the FZSoNick sodium nickel chloride battery which has superior operating capabilities, compared to any other battery technology, currently available. The SoNick battery operates at a wider range of temperatures compared to other batteries and has the advantage of being a non-toxic, environmentally friendly battery that is much more compact, compared to many other batteries set up currently on the market or proposed in the near future. Continue reading “GridEdge and the FZSoNick battery” →

Battery Drawdown Capabilities

Posted on by Linda

 

Energy storage batteries come in a variety of different sizes and weights and each have different characteristics.  Here is a comparison of some different battery technologies currently available in Australia with an indication of the amount of power that can be drawn down.

You can see from this image that size is not necessarily a good indication of the power that is available to be used from a battery. Some batteries have much better energy density than others.

Another thing to consider is how much power you can actually draw from the battery at any point in time. Our SoNick battery can draw 150 amps for 4 hours continuously but some other batteries are very limited in the amount of power that can be used, maybe only with enough to boil a kettle and little more. Continue reading “Battery Drawdown Capabilities” →

Battery Recycling

Posted on by Linda

One of the things that you should consider when putting battery storage on your home is whether or not the battery will be recyclable at the end of its life.
Recycling batteries at the end of their life has a number of benefits:

  • It enables the recovery and reuse of materials including lead, iron, plastics, aluminium, copper, lithium, cobalt and electrolyte
  • It diverts toxic and hazardous materials from landfill
  • It ensures that batteries are managed safely
  • There may be a financial return (depending on the battery type).

Often, one of the reasons that people put solar panels on their house and put in battery storage to collect the excess usage is to protect the environment and reduce the need for coal powered power stations. This can be counterproductive if you choose a battery that is made from toxic materials or has components that can’t be recycled at end of life of the battery.

When batteries go to landfill toxic substances can cause damage to the waste stream, waterways, humans and the general environment. This can be nickel, cadmium, lead or lithium ion.

Recycling of energy storage batteries is a current weakness in the industry for many battery technologies.

Continue reading “Battery Recycling” →

How freezing temperatures affect batteries

Posted on by Linda

 

 

Recent sub zero temperatures in Victoria have caused problems with liquid in solar panels and batteries freezing.

Plumbers and solar installers say they have struggled to keep up with unprecedented demand for help as temperatures plummet. Cold weather can cause water in solar panels to freeze and expand, resulting in snapped and split panels and broken frost valves. Naturally this problem is worse in cheaper products or products that aren’t installed properly to allow for temperature extremes.

We have also heard of several instances of batteries freezing as well. Most lead acid and lithium ion batteries only operate effectively between around 5 – 35 to 40 °C which is problematic on days when the temperature gets very cold or even is below freezing as we experienced in Melbourne recently. Continue reading “How freezing temperatures affect batteries” →

Battery Storage Possibilities

Posted on by Linda

 

Many households and businesses already attach battery storage to their clean energy systems. Now is the time to grow the industry, encourage the take-up of storage and help make Australia a renewable energy leader. With public interest high, now is the time for a targeted, five-year support package to drive down costs and put battery storage in reach of every household and business. Continue reading “Battery Storage Possibilities” →

Why do people look at battery storage?

Posted on by Linda

With battery storage set to grow in the next few years there are many people that are interested in looking at this technology but there are also a wide variety of reasons that people are doing so.

Up until now most people that have used batteries to store their energy have been those that have been in situations where it was not possible, either for economical or proximity reasons to connect to the electricity grid. However, there are now many more reasons that people are considering battery storage and many more questions people are asking about the batteries they are looking at.

Over the last 5 – 10 years there has been a big push to install rooftop solar panels to capture electricity to use on the building the panels are installed on. This was encouraged by governments as they introduced feed-in tariffs to encourage people to install solar. This was so successful, as the general public took up these offers that governments soon decreased the feed-in tariffs and now they are extremely low or non-existent, depending on your state. Continue reading “Why do people look at battery storage?” →

Battery Recyclability

Posted on by Linda

 

One of the things that you should consider when putting battery storage on your home is whether or not the battery will be recyclable at the end of its life.

Often, one of the reasons that people put solar panels on their house and put in battery storage to collect the excess usage is to protect the environment and reduce the need for coal powered power stations.

This can be counterproductive if you choose a battery that is made from toxic materials or has components that can’t be recycled. Continue reading “Battery Recyclability” →