With the ever-growing demand for renewable solutions, people seek other ways of exploiting solar power. Many often then wonder: “Can I use a car battery for solar panels?” Though attractive to a person trying to exploit the potential of solar energy, there are several things to consider. The following article is going to describe how car batteries can be utilized with growatt solar panels, taking into consideration the types of batteries and their compatibility and efficiency within the system.
All you need to know about Car Batteries and Solar Panels
Car batteries have been designed to start the engine and run all the electrical systems, primarily in vehicles. Most of those batteries are lead-acid and have enormous capacity for high energy bursts but for extremely limited time only. On the other hand, solar panels tend to be quite different in their mission of conversion in turning sunlight into generally utilized electrical energy via renewable systems of energy. A solar energy system may or may not need batteries: mostly, they will be in some form in which energy has been stored for when it is not directly coming onto the panels. It would have technically become achievable while utilizing it with solar panels. The limitations and differences had to be developed to differentiate between car batteries and batteries dedicated to a solar system.
Difference between Solar Battery and Car Battery
The considerable differences within a solar as well as in a car lie in the procedure of each development and their pattern of use. A solar battery is designed to handle deep cycling, and this type of battery may be discharged and charged many times with little effect on the life of that kind of battery.
Car batteries are shallow cycled-in other words, they can indeed put out that quick burst of power needed to turn over a vehicle. They are not designed to do deep continuous discharge and recharge cycles as required in an operating Solar Energy System. It is quite possible to adapt car batteries for a solar panel, but suspicions are they will not be able to live as long, as it is put on normal solar batteries. In such a situation where a car battery cannot handle deep discharges, the life of the battery in solar applications is thus pretty short.
With all those limitations in mind, going ahead to use a car battery for solar panels is best preceded by the best choice of car batteries for solar panels. You will want to pick up a deep-cycle car battery designed for cycles of discharge/charge repeatedly and hence better for solar rather than normal car batteries. A few popular brands with deep-cycle batteries in the market include Optima, Odyssey, and Exide meant for energy storage in solar.
Again, this is a factor of cost weighing into making it such, because while some initial saving with a car battery might look quite enticing, the long-term performance and life efficiency of the system probably just wouldn’t justify such a choice against an investment in a proper solar battery.
What Size Solar Panel To Keep Car Battery Charged
General design and efficiency of the system bear a lot of importance regarding the integration of car batteries with solar panels. Indeed, one of the most frequently asked questions will be what size solar panel will keep your car battery charged. This all depends on a number of variables: the capacity in amp-hours of the battery, daily energy consumption, and available sunlight in your area.
A common general sizing is at least 100 watts of solar panel for every 100 amp-hours of battery capacity.
Just to give you a very rough estimate, for car battery rated to 200 amp-hours your ideal solar panel system should be able to produce at least 200 watts. Keep in mind that this is very, very rough estimation, actual performance depends on lots of things including local weather conditions shadings, seasonal variations etcetera.
Solar Panel to Car Battery to Inverter
Installation: Your solar panel has to be connected first with a car battery and with an inverter afterward that can convert the stored DC power into AC for household appliances. The major components of which it is made will include but are not limited to a solar panel, a car battery, and an on grid solar inverter.
- Solar Panel:
It simply gathers sun rays and then converts them into electrical energy.
- Car Battery:
This is the storage for electricity coming from the solar panel.
- Inverter:
The DC power stored in a car battery is inverted into AC, which one can tap off to run household devices.
When wiring up the components, don’t forget to use appropriately gauged wiring for the current and you might also want to add a charge controller between the solar panel and battery to prevent overcharging-the surest method of ruining said battery.
using electric car batteries for solar storage
Another alternative to store the produced energy by solar is electric car batteries that are designed for deeper cycling and longer life span rather than a normal car battery. Electric vehicles typically use lithium-ion batteries due to their great energy density, long life cycle, and high efficiency compared with lead-acid batteries.
It can be quite a good idea to use car electric batteries for storage of solar energy, but only in the case when some used batteries from electric cars can be obtained at a cheaper price. For their full integration into the Solar Energy system, highly planned and appropriate equipment is required so that such an integration comes out to be safe and compatible.
Using Hybrid Car Battery for Solar System
These batteries are a marriage of conventional lead-acid type batteries and advanced lithium-ion technology found in cars like the Toyota Prius. It has design features for much deeper cycling compared to conventional car batteries and hence could be a potential candidate for solar applications.
Hybrid car batteries for solar installations are much more effective and last longer than the conventional car batteries. Just like electric car batteries, hybrid car batteries have to determine their compatibility with the solar array. This could be about specific or additional equipment to be installed that may include an appropriate inverter and growatt hybrid inverter or a charge controller.
Conclusion
In other words, while car batteries may work for solar panels, that just might not be technically the best or cheap way out. Basically, all the differences between solar batteries and car batteries come to what type of battery one should get in his solar setup. The better deal could probably be made by investing in a dedicated solar battery, or even an electric or hybrid car battery, for longer performance and life.
If you are bent on using car batteries for solar panels, at least use deep-cycle ones and correctly size the solar panel system for what you need; at least know what you are getting yourself into. In this ever-changing solar energy market, the best practices, knowledge, and awareness of what is in store will assure a worthy return on the investments with renewable energy.
