How to Retrofit Your Home With a Solar Panel Battery System

With energy bills as high as they've ever been in the UK, more and more homeowners are choosing to install solar panels to become less reliant on the grid. Surprisingly, few are attached to home battery systems like the EcoFlow Power Ocean DC Fit. Why is that surprising? Well, there happens to be a wide range of advantages available when you retrofit an existing system with a home battery. Doing so not only serves to enhance your home's energy efficiency but also gives you a reliable backup power source. While rolling blackouts in Britain due to the current energy crisis are unlikely to come to pass over the coming years, it's still nice to know that you're protected in any kind of emergency, such as downed power lines. This article looks at what's involved in a home retrofit and the benefits this type of investment offers home and business premises owners.

• More Energy Independence - Home battery systems store excess solar energy generated during the day so that you can use it at night or when it's cloudy. That means home battery systems allow you to enjoy more energy independence.
• More Electricity Bill Savings - Storage systems like these let you use the energy you've stored during peak tariff hours, so you're naturally going to get even lower bills when compared to conventional solar PV systems.
• Reliable Backup Power - When other homes in your area go dark because of localised power outages, your lights will stay on, offering great peace of mind.
• More Efficient Use of Solar - There's very little solar energy wasted thanks to excess electricity being stored for later, often significantly reducing your home’s carbon footprint.
• More Flexibility When Selling Back to the Grid - You can sell surplus energy back to the grid with home batteries and regular solar panels, but a battery gives you much more flexibility over when that happens, rather than having to export it immediately.

The first step in the process is to determine exactly how much electricity you use and the battery storage capacity you're going to need. Obviously, everyone's home is different. However, an average household consumes around 3,600 kWh of electricity per year, equating to around 10 kWh per day.

In order to cover evening and night-time usage, when solar panels are not generating electricity, a battery with a capacity of 4-8 kWh is usually considered sufficient. You also need to assess your current solar panels in terms of compatibility with any battery you install, your goals (how much you intend to sell to the grid), available space, and your usage patterns.

While there are no rules in the UK with regard to who can have a home battery retrofit installation, there are strict guidelines that relate to the installation itself. Any work carried out must comply with Building Regulations Part P and BS7671 - which cover electrical safety in the home. As such, a suitably qualified electrician familiar with home battery systems should be used.

When talking about planning permission, it's not something you'll need to apply for unless a) you live in a listed building, b) you reside in a conservation area, or c) the installation significantly alters the exterior of your property.

The next step is to integrate the battery system with your existing solar panels and inverter. This will require additional components or replacing the current inverter with a hybrid one. A standard inverter will not offer the necessary functionality, so a hybrid variant will be needed to manage battery storage and AC electricity conversion.

The installer will connect your new battery system to your home's electrical panel and solar PV panels, after which the system will be certified, tested and inspected by a suitably qualified electrician to ensure everything works efficiently and safely.

Once your new system is up and running, a monitoring system like the PowerInsight Home Energy Manager will be connected to allow you to track energy performance in real time. After this, it's a case of basic maintenance, which for the owner involves just a periodic cleaning and visual inspection to check for wear and tear.

Ideally, you'll also get a regular inspection from a qualified electrical - just like you would with your boiler.
At this point, you're free to begin enjoying the many benefits that come with a solar PV home battery system. If you're interested in knowing more, take a look at our FAQ section below.

Moving from a standard solar panel system to one with a home battery is easier than you might imagine. Of course, there's a cost involved in a retrofit, but the benefits are huge, particularly when talking about an EcoFlow PowerOcean Home Battery Solution. You get the best of both worlds - access to abundant renewable energy and the flexibility to use it as you see fit.

If you wish to learn more about a retrofit for your home, just look around our website, which displays all the information you need to know clearly and understandably. Alternatively, click 'Order Now' on our homepage to get a free quote based on your requirements, after which a member of our team will get in touch.