Yes. You can charge a Solar battery with electricity. You can use a Hybrid inverter for this purpose.
The local power grid supply AC is converted from the DC. The conversion process will dissipate a good amount of energy.
Can I charge my solar battery with electricity?
Yes. It is possible to charge solar batteries with electricity. However, there are certain things that you should know before you charge solar batteries with electricity.
1) You will be charging the batteries from the local grid. You are not using it to run any equipment, but powering another battery will cost you more.
2) The power grid would have AC power and not DC power. When you connect the batteries, you must know that you are not trying to charge the inverters, and it won’t work.
You may have to convert the AC to DC to charge the inverter. Again the method will lose some of the energy in the process, which is an inefficient way to charge any battery.
3) The battery would take some time to charge, depending on the density provided fully. It would help if you considered when you decided to charge the battery using the local power grid.
4) When the battery is connected to the power grid, you are fixing the charging time and not considering the renewable power from the solar panels.
Are there any batteries that can be charged both on electricity and solar?
Modern batteries are highly efficient and come with a dual charging facility. You can charge the battery with the local power grid. Also, they are easy to charge with solar energy.
The battery chargers moderate the flow of electrons from the higher to lower voltage. When the voltage is slightly higher than the EMF, the electrons are flowing back and forth from the cathode to the anode.
Ultimately the energy supply doesn’t matter when you want to charge the batteries. Whether you connect a solar array or grid supply, it doesn’t matter what source you use to charge your battery.
However, you have to ensure that the appropriate voltage passes through the cable to recharge the battery in safe mode.
Solar batteries are known for their slower discharge rate. When you charge the batteries, they store the power for later use. The thicker plates are used to reduce the depletion rate of the battery.
The solar battery can optimize the discharge rate and be used at the lower voltage cutoff level.
Is it good to charge the solar battery with electricity?
This charger can be used with Energizer batteries to recharge
Owning a solar battery and charging it with electricity would have not to point in having them in the first place. Solar batteries are designed to store power from renewable energy.
Charging them using the local grid would increase your electricity consumption and add additional charges on top of your electricity grid.
Also, the depletion rate of the batteries during the charging could cause a loss of energy which makes the whole system inefficient.
Even if your region has low electricity charges, still charging the solar batteries would not be a viable solution.
The general principle states to charge the batteries with solar first. The objective of manufacturing solar batteries is to move towards sustainable energy.
The local grids produce energy from non-renewable sources such as nuclear power plants.
With solar energy, you do need to store the power for an extended period as you will be getting the same amount of energy every day.
In case the supply is not available, then charge the solar battery with the available solar energy, and then connect with the grid for remaining charging.
It will ensure that the batteries are fully charged for downtime.
When to charge the solar battery with a power grid?
Alternatively, charge the batteries using the local power grid in case of a low tariff at a particular time of the day. In some regions, the grid power tariff is low at night when demand is low. Charging batteries with a cheaper power supply would be beneficial to some extent.
Also, there are possibilities that the PV cannot supply a sufficient amount of energy during the day.
There will be several reasons behind the low power supply. In those days, you can connect the solar batteries to the local grid and fully charge the battery for the night.
Solar plus inverter could reduce the strain on the local power grid. Also, you will have a renewable energy source to power your home equipment.
Over time the solar power panel would generate a sufficient amount of energy to power the entire home.
Your dependence on the local grid will be reduced, and your home will be run on a 100% renewable energy source.
Eng. Matthew Joseph Nandirio is the Founder of walkingsolar.
After graduating from the University of Houston in 2002, matt started working as a Solar Electrical Engineer for several multi-national solar energy companies.
He has a wide range of experiences including solar system requirement analysis, planning, maintaining, debugging and even solar device development through research.
He now shares his 20 years of expertise through his articles on the walkingsolar website.
Further, he is also the author of two books on Solar Technology, “Solar Power for Villages” and “DIY Solar System for Dummies”.
