The emergence of energy storage systems in the last few years has been a game changer for people that want to take control of the energy, either at work or in their homes.

For the past quarter of a century we have seen the large scale roll-out of grid connect solar, providing time of generation offsets and good infeed earnings.

With the reduction of infeed credits and the high cost of buying in power it has set the scene for a genuine need for battery storage. The ability to use the stored energy at a later time has redefined the value of solar panels.

To do this, the new generation of hybrid inverter systems have given people the opportunity to meet their changing needs and minimise the impact of ever changing supply rules and pricing.

For most people independence from the grid is not practical. This may be due to a combination of issues, such as roof space for panels, poor winter performance, or purely the upfront cost to do so. A helpful approach is to list the things you want to achieve from your renewable supplied power in order of importance.

Some energy considerations in a residential environment could be:

• Charging your EV at the end of the day
• Heating Hot Water
• Cleaning the Pool
• Heating a home
• Providing Backup facility during power outages

All of these will reduce your power bill. From this we need to identify what loads are low power and what loads are high power. In other words the rate of energy required and when it is needed.

If we reorganised this list from high to low rate it might be like this:

• Charging the EV (7-11kW)
• Heating Hot Water (2-5kW)
• Heating a home (2-4kW)
• Cleaning the Pool (1-2kW)
• Providing Backup During Power outages (0.25kW-2kW)

Then we can highlight the loads that can be exclusively powered during solar generation hours and be directly supplied for the large part by renewables.

These highlighted loads therefore are less dependent on the battery.

Depending on your location and your lifestyle, everyone will have a slightly different expectation.

Engaging a qualified designer makes good sense. It helps your investment go further and you get a solution that best suits your needs.