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Can you use Home Battery Storage without solar panels?

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Even if you don’t have a solar power system, you may still be able to increase your energy independence — and protect yourself during power outages — with battery storage.

We will explain how that’s possible, looking at the benefits and disadvantages of having a battery without solar panels, and outline how you can add a solar array later.

Does a battery work without solar panels?

A battery can absolutely work without solar panels. You can use a storage battery to store electricity from the grid.

You can use power from the grid when it’s cost-effective but then switch to battery power during times of peak demand when electricity costs more. Over time, this can help reduce energy costs and keep utility expenses as low as possible.

 

What are the benefits of a lone battery?

  • You can avoid the higher costs of electricity during peak times — by charging your storage battery when demand is lower, you can use this electricity in the evening and avoid paying peak demand prices.
  • Reduces strain on the grid — using stored electricity during peak demand not only saves you money but also puts less pressure on the grid, which means fewer power outages for everyone.
  • Increases energy independence — not all homes can have solar panels, but you can still get a storage battery to give you more control over the energy you use.

 

Can you add solar panels to your battery later on?

Yes, you can add solar panels to an existing battery system. It isn’t even that difficult — it’s just a matter of hooking up your new solar panels to the battery.

We recommend using a professional to install and connect your solar panels to your battery system, because of the risk of damage to yourself or the products.

 

Market Trends of LFP Battery

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Wood Mackenzie’s latest report shows global energy storage capacity could grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31%, recording 741 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of cumulative capacity by 2030.

The global residential energy storage market is projected to reach USD 17.5 billion by 2024 from an estimated USD 6.3 billion in 2019, at a CAGR of 22.88% during the forecast period.

LFP to overtake NMC as dominant stationary storage chemistry by 2030.

 

Global Energy Storage Trends

Wood Mackenzie’s latest report shows global energy storage capacity could grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31%, recording 741 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of cumulative capacity by 2030.

Energy storage is still a nascent market, a relatively new investment class with underlying risks. The stakeholders – whether end-consumers or big equity investors – are interested in continuing to invest in the sector and do not appear to be hindered by the pandemic and economic recession impacts.

Supportive policies, ambitious climate commitments, and the growing need for flexible resources are common drivers.

 

Home Energy Storage Trends

The global residential energy storage market is projected to reach USD 17.5 billion by 2024 from an estimated USD 6.3 billion in 2019, at a CAGR of 22.88% during the forecast period.This growth can be attributed to factors such as the declining cost of batteries, regulatory support and financial incentives, and the need for energy self-sufficiency from consumers. Residential energy storage systems provide backup power during power outages, and therefore, play a vital role in the energy industry.Asia Pacific is estimated to be the largest market from 2019 to 2024. The growth of this region is primarily driven by countries such as China, Australia, and Japan, which are installing storage solutions for residential end-users.

 

Leading LFP Battery

Lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) is poised to overtake lithium-manganese-cobalt-oxide (NMC) as the dominant stationary storage chemistry within the decade, growing from 10% of the market in 2015 to more than 30% in 2030, according to new analysis from Wood Mackenzie.

ZRGP | The 4 Main Types of Inverters

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Here, we explain the differences and hopefully help clear up some of the confusing and conflicting terminologies such as multi-mode inverter, inverter-charger, battery inverter and battery-ready inverter. ZRGP Lithium Battery’s household energy storage systems are compatible with 16 world-famous inverter brands. Electricity prices are forecast to increase by 35% according to energy giant Alinta Energy.

 

Grid-tied inverter

Grid-tied inverters are for a grid-tied solar system.

These require an active grid connection to function. If the grid goes down, you will not be able to use any Solar Power produced. Another feature of the Grid-Tied inverter is that you can feed Solar Power back into the grid.

Grid-Tied setups are ideal for homes or businesses that use the majority of their electricity during the day. Supplementing your daily electricity usage with Solar Power will drastically reduce electricity bills.

 

Off-grid inverter

An off-grid inverter is for a stand-alone or off-grid solar system.

Off-grid inverters convert the DC energy from a solar battery or the solar panels into AC energy.

Some off-grid inverters work as inverter/chargers because they also allow you to charge your battery bank from an AC source such as a generator.

These inverters are ideal for game lodges, rural areas, or new homes that are not connected to the grid.

 

Hybrid inverter

Hybrid inverters sometimes referred to as battery-ready inverters, combine a solar and battery inverter together in one simple unit.

Hybrid inverters give you versatility because they can work in both a grid-tied and off-grid system.

Unlike grid-tied inverters, however, hybrids don’t shut down during load shedding or a blackout. Rather, they disconnect from the grid and continue supplying you with power.

They also work as an inverter/charger because they can connect to the grid or a secondary AC source like a generator to charge the battery bank when the sun can’t do the job.

It’s this versatility that makes hybrids your best option if:

You’re trying to beat load shedding or power outages;

You want to sell your excess electricity to the grid;

 

Battery inverter

Battery inverters are the most basic type of inverter used with batteries. They convert DC low-voltage battery power to AC power. These are available in a huge range of sizes, from simple 150W plug-in style inverters used in vehicles, to powerful 10,000W+ inverters used for off-grid power systems. These inverters are typically coupled with MPPT solar charge controllers connected to one or more solar panels.

 

Electricity prices are forecast to increase by 35% according to energy giant Alinta Energy. With the way that things are being forecast right now, it’s going to cost you much more in the long run not to invest in renewables like solar energy, solar batteries, EV chargers, and heat pumps.

We are on a mission to help homeowners move to a fully electric lifestyle for the greater good of the planet. Only we can do this together and move towards a healthier, more sustainable future.

ZRGP ANNUAL CELEBRATION

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Every year,  ZRGP holds an annual celebration to strengthen the communication among employees within the company, promote the construction of corporate culture, express the company’s care and greetings to the employees, and further enhance the employees’ collective honor and sense of mission.

The ZRGP Annual Celebration Dinner brings together all company staff, and special guests, all of whom support ZRGP’s mission to grow renewable energy. We are gathered here to share the fruits of our struggle in 2022 and to celebrate the arrival of 2023.

 

IN 2022

ZRGP has been with our end-users, installation partners, and distributors for eight years!

ZRGP has achieved a lot in 2022.

To broaden our market we participated in exhibitions with our partners in Australia, Germany, and South Africa.

ZRGP’s new factory officially started production. Introduction of intelligent systems such as MES (Manufacturing Execution System), OA (Office Automation), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), etc. to realize factory intelligence, allowing global businesses and clients to grasp real-time manufacturing progress and quality status promptly and improve customer satisfaction.

In 2022, we launched our real-time online monitoring and management application, with no more steps, you can monitor and manage your energy storage system remotely on your smartphone and laptop.

What’s more, our energy storage products have passed many certifications such as UL, IEC, and UKCA, making them safer, better, and more convenient for consumers to use.

 

ANNUAL CELEBRATION DINNER

Annual celebration:

Annual celebration dinner, performance, raffle, bonus payment, outstanding performance selection.

 

Performance
Our colleagues and special guests brought wonderful performances that livened up the atmosphere.

Raffle
Congratulations to the lucky winner of the mystery prize.

Prize Distribution
ZRGP sets up year-end awards to thank colleagues for their hard work throughout the year and to bring new expectations for the new year.

Every time we gather, we don’t just want to have a good time, but also to guide you to a positive attitude, relax your tense mood on working days and meet more like-minded friends. This chic four-hour party is no different, and we hope that every smile at the party will also shine into your lives.

 

2023 will be a year of innovation and progress for ZRGP.

We will equip our energy storage products with market-leading technology to make them safer, better, and more convenient for consumers to use.

We sincerely hope to cooperate and communicate with more excellent partners for mutual progress and development.

In 2023, we are ready to go further and higher with you all.

France electricity prices surge past €1,000/MWh

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Wholesale electricity prices in France for the middle of winter surged above €1,000/MWh ($A1,540/MWh) after the operator of the world’s biggest nuclear fleet revealed more problems and more outages at its reactors.

Half of France’s 56 reactors are out of action due to scheduled or emergency maintenance measures. “The situation changed drastically this year when France swung from being one of Europe’s largest exporters of electricity to a net importer because of issues with its reactors.”–  Bloomberg

 

Energy Storage

Natural gas prices have been steadily climbing since last summer, with the war in Ukraine increasing the pressure. Combined with efforts against climate change, it’s never been clearer that the world needs to move towards renewables.

However, there’s an obvious problem – most forms of renewables don’t produce energy on demand. The power needs to keep flowing even when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.

The words ‘power storage’ might make you think of batteries.

 

Solar Plus Battery System

The sun shines when energy demand is lowest, which means your home can’t take full advantage of the benefits of rooftop solar without a way to store the excess power you generate. Complementing your solar system with a home battery gives you a way to harvest the excess clean power you produce daily for use when the sun goes down and when you actually need it.

Brand New ZRGP | Factory Introduction

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New Factory Introduce

ZRGP’s new factory has now been constructed and all the equipment is ready and waiting to start manufacturing. The factory is located in Huizhou and the maximum

surface area is exceeding 10,000 square meters, representing 172,220 square feet. We possess more than 150 experienced employees and many excellent technicians in charge of support and push on manufacturing, ensuring each process is going well.

 

New System

Despite the scale of the factory, we introduced a whole set of MES (Manufacturing Execution System) in order to realize warehouse information visualization and data transparency. In other words, the MES system is an intelligent supervisor who is responsible for recording and processing statistics. More importantly, MES could largely assist employees to manage stocks such as material first-in, first-out, and preventing any unnecessary errors.

 

New Production Line

Moreover, the new factory is equipped with two semi-automatic and two fully automatic production lines. In terms of employees, wages paid could be lessened and more capital could be invested in equipment updating.

In terms of output, diversified production lines can provide stable and sufficient output production, which largely boosts the output capability. It is estimated that the output value of the factory per annual  would be exceeding 3 Gwh.

Safest – ZRGP’s Mate (LFP) Passed the UL9540A test

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ZRGP is pleased to announce passing UL 9540A test at the cell, module, and system level, which means that Mate, ZRGP’s home energy storage system, has reached the highest international standard level in terms of safety and reliability. The passing of this test will help its business to grow globally.

 

What Is UL9540A?

Based on high standards of international certification, reliable R&D strength, and scientific technology training, ZRGP is committed to providing customers with the safest, most economical, and most efficient energy storage systems.

The UL9540A test standard is a test method proposed by UL to evaluate the spread of large-scale thermal runaway fires in electrochemical energy storage systems and has become a landmark industry standard.

In doing so, ZRGP has demonstrated that its product meets the industry’s highest standards for safety and fire prevention.

There are 4 stages in the UL9540A test method:

– CELL LEVEL TEST

At this level, UL looks at whether a cell can exhibit thermal runaway. It also checks its characteristics and flammability.

– MODULE-LEVEL TEST

In this stage, the main goal is to determine if thermal runaway propagates with the module. They will also find out the heat release and gas composition.

– UNIT-LEVEL TEST

Now they will look at the whole unit and see the following. Firstly, they find out how quickly fire spreads. Then they will look for its heat and gas release rates and other hazards.

– INSTALLATION LEVEL TEST

Lastly, they do an installation test. This is an optional test, but its goal is to determine how effective the product’s fire protection is.

 

ZRGP PowerBase Mate

As a ZRGP UL9540A – certified BESS home energy storage system, Mate is our most classic product, featuring a modular LV design, LFP cells, 6000 cycle life, and scalability to meet the needs of businesses and homes of all sizes.

  • Between 2 to 8 battery modules can be used in single stack to give 10.24 to 40.96kWh usable capacity;
  • Up to 15 stacks can be connected in parallel to give a maximum 614.4kWh usable capacity;
  • Additional modules or parallel stacks can be added at any time to increase capacity.

 

About Us

ZRGP is a national high-tech enterprise with a global vision. With independent research and development capabilities and focus on ESS solutions, ZRGP is the world’s leading supplier of BMS, ESS, modules, and monitoring systems. Our business scope integrates R&D, design, production and sales.Currently, we are in the process of obtaining UL9540, and all ZRGP BESS are manufactured in strict accordance with the standard and meet the testing criteria. Meanwhile, ZRGP will continue to supplement the certificates with international standards to provide you with safer and more efficient energy storage systems.

AC vs. DC Coupling: Which is Best for Your Application

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​Energy storage has grown increasingly popular in recent years, and with good reason. Batteries represent the next step toward grid independence, effectively expanding the capabilities of your solar panels around the clock by allowing you to store and use your excess solar energy, both day and night.

A hotly debated topic among solar installers today is whether AC or DC coupling is the best approach for solar+storage installations and retrofits. The truth is there really is no right or wrong answer. Both approaches have their merits, and the optimal approach depends entirely upon the application.

 

AC-coupled vs. DC-coupled – What’s the Difference?

AC or DC coupling refers to the way in which solar panels are coupled with and interact with a battery system.

AC coupled systems require two inverters: a common grid-tied solar inverter and a battery-based inverter. This means that the energy used by the batteries may be inverted as many as three times before being used in the home — i.e., from DC (PV array) to AC (load center) through the solar inverter, then back to DC (batteries) through the battery-based inverter, and then back to AC again (home loads).

DC coupled systems use a charge controller to directly charge batteries with solar generation and a battery-based inverter to power home loads (AC).

As a result, DC coupled systems are slightly more efficient than AC coupled systems because the power is not inverted multiple times.

 

AC Coupled: Best for Those Who Already Have Solar

AC coupled systems can be much more convenient for retrofits in which customers want to add batteries to existing residential grid-tied solar systems. One only needs to purchase an additional battery-based inverter to connect the batteries.

Because of the ease of installation, AC coupling can be ideal for grid-tied residential battery backup systems as well as large commercial systems, especially for retrofits where solar panels have already been installed.

While AC coupled systems may be easier to install, using battery storage to cover AC loads is likely to result in a marginal decrease in efficiency.

 

DC Coupled: Best for Those Installing Solar and Storage Together

DC coupling is ideal for new on- and off-grid solar+storage system installations in residential and small commercial applications, but not retrofits with existing solar panels, because the existing grid-tied solar inverter must be removed entirely and replaced with a battery-based inverter. In most cases, the existing PV array wiring must be reconfigured.

The ZRGP PowerBase Mate (minimum capacity 10.24 kWh, expandable to 40.96 kWh) is a great choice for DC-coupled systems. It is a low-voltage battery system with an acquired flexible modular design with no extra cables, which provides optimized safety, life span, and performance. They are perfect batteries for all applications.

The PowerBase Mate has the flexibility to be combined with any type of energy generator, including photovoltaic, bioenergy, wind, and diesel generators. This makes it a more viable option for achieving energy independence.