The last decade witnessed major advancements in the home battery backup market, the most significant being the advent of lithium-ion technology.
Lithium-ion batteries have become the popular choice for home battery storage because:
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- They can store more energy than competing technologies
- Last a long time
- Charge and discharge quickly
- Are compatible with other renewable energy sources like solar
Home battery backup
While advancements in technology and widespread adoption led to a decline in cost, making home battery storage more affordable, government incentives and policies promoting clean energy also contributed to homeowner affordability.
By 2015 when Tesla Powerwall entered the market and quickly grabbed headlines, the home battery backup market was well positioned to attract homeowners wanting to take full advantage of their solar return on investment.
Since then, the solar battery storage market has seen dozens of competitors enter the space, leading to a diverse range of solar batteries in terms of capacity, features, and pricing.
Our focus
To ensure A&R Solar installs the best battery backup solution for the Northwest, our research and development team constantly assesses new energy solutions for homeowners.
With over fifteen years of research and development in battery storage, our criteria continue to focus on battery integration flexibility, warranty reliability, and performance.
To date, we have reviewed the major battery backup solutions, paying particular attention to the challenges presented in our Northwest climate.
This includes Generac/Pika, Sonnen, SimpliPhi, Panasonic, Outback, ElectrIQ, Sunrun, SolarEdge/LG Chem, Enphase, Sunverge, Sunvault, and others.
After a careful review of each battery storage option, we’ve determined that Tesla Powerwall is the best battery storage solution for the Northwest.
Why Tesla Powerwall?
With other home battery storage systems, it’s not the battery we’re concerned about; it’s the built-in inverter(s) or lack thereof, the battery’s ability to integrate with a diverse range of solar energy systems, continuous cold weather performance, as well as adherence to local electrical code – not to mention ease of installation.
Because many solar battery installations occur outdoors (exterior garages), it’s important that Powerall maintains consistent performance in cold weather. After internal testing, as well as hundreds of Powerwall installations in the Northwest, we’re confident that Powerwall provides the best battery performance for our Northwest winters.
In the case of additional components, Tesla Powerwall provides an all-in-one battery and inverter solution which allows it to be paired with most existing grid-tied solar systems (solar panels and solar inverters) – as well as without solar.
That’s in contrast to other energy storage systems which require the addition of a battery inverter, as well as in some cases 3rd party charge controllers and optimizers. The addition of these components increases installation complexity, and as a result, the total system cost.
For instance, with a built-in inverter and Backup Gateway, Powerwall adheres to Oregon and Washington electrical code which requires all solar energy systems to perform a rapid shutdown when the grid goes down.
This prevents energy from the solar panels flowing back to the grid while line workers restore power.
Located in the Backup Gateway, the Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) effectively directs power generated from the panels to the battery. This means your lights can stay on when the power goes out.
Surprisingly, many competing battery backup systems don’t provide this safety feature out of the box, leading to additional components and increased costs.
While it’s the fastest transfer switch we’ve tested (less than a second in most cases), it also provides homeowners with a monitoring system to measure solar production and energy consumption.
What’s more, many other battery backup solutions do not provide this monitoring feature or require an additional fee.
Reasons to install Tesla Powerwall
Here are some additional reasons why we feel that the Tesla Powerwall is the best battery storage solution for the Northwest:
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- Excellent compatibility with existing or new solar energy systems
- Federal Solar Tax Credit eligibility
- Resilient functionality in cold weather
- Web and mobile monitoring and control
- Scalability to stack multiple batteries together for even the largest homes
- Solar self-consumption mode to protect against future utility rate changes
- Systems with higher power throughput to pair with larger home systems (i.e. well pumps, heat pumps, etc)
- Sterling manufacturing reputations
- Proven planning, foresight, and adaptability to market changes
- Enormous financial strength, publicly traded, multinational
- Warranty support, and partnership management
Discover more about home battery backup or request a free quote by following the link below.
