Battery backup solutions from German Energy (SL) Ltd.

The market for battery storage is developing rapidly. At present, around 70 battery systems are expected to be available for photovoltaic systems, which does not make the decision for a solar power storage unit any easier.

There are many aspects according to which photovoltaic storage systems can be grouped. For those who have already dealt with the topic in more detail, it is relevant, among other things, whether the solar power storage unit is installed AC or DC-coupled or how much power can be taken from the photovoltaic storage unit at a time.

This is preceded by supposedly fundamental questions about battery technology - lead acid or lithium?

Here, it is always necessary to check what your requirements are.

Solar power storage on lead-acid basis & lead-gel technology

Lead accumulators have been used for many years in industry and vehicle construction (car batteries). The technology has been tested accordingly and there are many years of experience with lead batteries. Commercially available are lead-acid batteries. Recently, lead gel batteries have also come onto the market, which are somewhat more expensive than lead-acid batteries, but are easier to maintain.

Comparison: Lead batteries can be discharged/charged less often than photovoltaic accumulators with lithium ion batteries (number of full cycles). More than 3,000 full cycles are not (yet) possible with today's lead batteries for photovoltaic systems. Lead batteries can also be discharged less deeply (limit at max. 80%) than lithium ion batteries. With the same storage capacity, less usable storage capacity is then available compared to lithium ion batteries. Also the efficiency of a solar power storage with lead technology is lower (up to 86%). On the other hand, solar power storage units based on lead have so far been significantly cheaper than solar power storage units based on lithium-ion.

Solar power storage with lithium-ion technology

Lithium-ion batteries have not been around in industry for as long as lead-acid batteries. Accordingly, there is less experience regarding the long-term suitability of lithium ion batteries. These are currently simulated in accelerated aging tests.

Comparative evaluation: Photovoltaic storage systems with lithium ion technology have so far been significantly more expensive than lead-acid batteries. On the other hand, lithium ion batteries can be discharged / charged much more often (up to 7,000 times with lithium titanate batteries), discharged much more deeply (up to almost 100%) and achieve an efficiency of up to 95%.

A balance between costs and benefits must always be achieved here.

German Energy can advise you on your requirements and offer the right power storage unit with a very good price-performance ratio.