Batteries & Storage
Falling battery prices, increased electrical tariffs and the greater presence of onsite renewable energy are all pushing storage into the mainstream markets. The ability to store electricity in a cost effective way has always been a key goal in energy efficiency.
With a guaranteed electricity store, homeowners and businesses are able to maximize their consumption of onsite renewable generation, reducing their dependence on the grid. On top of this, they can utilise a wide range of complementary technologies to save more money and offset more carbon.
For larger commercial businesses, the combination of Pass-Through electrical contracts with integrated battery storage gives you the opportunity to significantly reduce operating costs. With an appropriately-sized battery system, your dependence on grid-supplied electricity can be reduced to zero during heavily-charged peak demand times. And for all other units used, your business can enjoy a cheaper supply cost.
Battery storage also offers landowners and businesses the opportunity to generate new revenue through grid optimisation services. With on-site storages, you could be eligible to receive payments through grid-balancing services, embedded benefits, capacity and energy markets.
Dilham Village Hall
We were approached by the Clean Energy Consultancy with an exciting opportunity: Dilham Village Hall, with funding support from the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund, were looking for ways to build new energy efficiency projects. The Consultancy suggested that a solar PV solution with integrated battery storage would have the greatest impact on the Village Hall’s energy efficiency, and Ivy Solar were chosen to implement it.
The supply to the Hall was 3 phases, with the storage heaters requiring this type of connection. In this context, it wasn’t suitable to deploy a solar PV and battery solution to handle this type of load. Instead, we found that great cost and efficiency savings could be found elsewhere: namely, the lighting and kitchen appliances, which were all connected to phase 2. As such, a 3kW solar PV array, matched with a 6.kWh battery system, was chosen. This solution greately reduced the grid supply for the Hall’s lighting and catering activities.
Ivy Solar went with the SMA Sunnyboy Storage 2.5 battery inverter to provide accurate and responsive battery charging and discharging. BYD was the chosen manufacturer of the batteries themselves because of their vast experience and presence in the storage market. The autonomy of the system means that the Village Hall community can enjoy peace of mind, confident that their energy needs will be met come what may.