Pylontech: advancing solar with PV batteries
How are batteries helping to change the future of solar?
Solar battery storage will be instrumental in the widespread uptake of solar energy around the world. The ability to utilise energy harvested by the solar installation earlier in the day during peak hours has a significant impact on reducing pressure on the grid, eliminating the requirement for load shedding in South Africa.
Solving South Africa’s shortages
Over the past 10 years, lithium battery production has soared, leading to a substantial reduction in costs. As such, solar battery storage is commercially viable for homes and businesses, helping us to transition away from our dependency on fossil fuels.
Increasing South Africa’s solar battery storage infrastructure will undoubtedly facilitate the move towards a decarbonised nation with more intelligent electricity deployment.
Solar battery storage has applications across PV systems of all shapes and sizes. In the commercial market, utility-scale battery installations are growing in popularity. They enable more feed-in of renewables to the grid, providing reliable and cost-effective electricity to rural, end-of-line communities with little access to the grid.
What’s more, the price of solar declines each year, meaning that a large-scale solar PV installation produces on-site energy at a far lower price Eskom’s current rate — particularly during peak hours. And as load shedding is showing no signs of abating in South Africa, solar installations featuring battery back-up technology are proving to be a popular option for households and businesses alike, representing a more innovative and modern approach to creating a resilient power supply.
A smarter future
Batteries are set to power the growth of renewable energy worldwide. But could grid-scale solar storage truly become a reality? After all — even if homes and businesses have storage technologies in place, how does the power get deployed at the right time?
This is where smart grids come in.
A ‘smart grid’ is an electricity network that enables a two-way flow of power between the grid and the sites it powers. The first step in creating a smart grid is through smart metering. Many homes worldwide are already equipped with a smart meter that provides insight into their electricity consumption.
However, more widespread adoption of smart metering allows data to be analysed to optimise the grid, creating algorithms to foresee potential issues and react quicker when any challenges crop up. In South Africa, this kind of insight will be invaluable to modernising the grid and designing an energy infrastructure that can cope with the current demand.
According to research by Schneider Electric, one of the primary characteristics of a smart grid is its ability to ‘self-heal’ through continuous self-assessment and immediate fault identification and rectification, thereby minimising grid downtime and blackouts.
If any faults are identified, and a potential blackout is on the horizon, a smart grid could draw on the energy stored in PV batteries to bridge the gap while any issues are rectified.
Your global partner for PV batteries
SegenSolar stocks a variety of different solar batteries from top PV manufacturers. Pylontech’s lithium storage solutions are some of the best batteries available on the market. The company is helping the world shift to renewable energy, one storage system at a time.
For commercial systems, we recommend the Powercube H2. Each PowerCube H2 battery module offers 3.6 kWh of energy. You can configure up to 12 of these high-voltage batteries into a single stack and link up to six stacks in parallel for a fully scalable large-scale storage system. The PowerCube H2 can support a maximum of 18 batteries in one group, giving the system notable expandability. The system’s voltage can range from 200V to 900V. What’s more, this battery comes with a 10-year manufacturer warranty as standard and is easy to install and maintain.
No residential storage system is complete without the Pylontech UP5000. This is a mid-range 48V battery that comes with a five-year warranty as standard. The UP5000 also has an excellent weight-capacity ratio: this 4.8kWh module weighs only 40kg. With the ability to parallel up to 16 units, a long life,95％ DoD and a 0.5C charge rate, this battery is ideal for daily cycling applications.
Are you a solar installer keen to get involved in implementing energy storage systems across Southern Africa? Create an account on the SegenSolar portal to engage in technical training and start purchasing all the products you need.