Solar energy is the most clean and cheap form of energy. However, you cannot use the energy direct from the sun. You will need a solar panel to harvest the solar energy, and a solar battery for storing excess energy. This stored energy is used to power your residence and appliances. So how long do solar batteries hold power?
There are various factors that affect how long a solar battery can hold their charge. One of the factors that we will discuss among other factors include the type of batteries. Let’s gets direct into it.
How long do solar batteries hold their charge?
Solar batteries are great power storage devices. During the day, the energy harvested from the sun by the solar panel is used for use at home. The excess energy is stored in the batteries for when need arise.
Various factors play part on how long a solar battery hold their charge. For example, lithium ion hold charge more lead acid batteries. Again batteries with a large holding capacity will hold power for long than those with low capacity.
Standard solar batteries in the right condition and charging as expected will hold solar charge for 1-5 days. These batteries will last in between 5-20 years
Other factors that will be discuss later in this article include;
- The condition of the solar battery
- The power output rate
- Rate of discharge of the battery
- Solar batteries temperatures and
- Maintenance and care provided to your solar batteries.
All the above factors affect the power holding capacity of the solar batteries differently. Continue reading to find out more.
How long does a solar battery store energy?
With the different solar batteries availability in the market, manufacturers are promising their customers 5-25 years of fully functioning batteries. The manufacturers also promise their batteries can power your home and charge all your appliances for more than 10hours when there is power being collected. However, how long a solar battery will store energy is dependent on the following factors;
- Type of solar battery
Different solar batteries have different power holding capacity. People who own lithium-ion batteries will enjoy more hours of solar energy than those who own lead-acid batteries powering homes using the same amount of power.
- Condition of the battery
Solar batteries that have been in use for years deteriorate, they therefore cannot hold power for many hours as new batteries can.
- Rate of discharge
Different solar batteries have different discharge rate. Those with a low discharge rate can hold power for long than those with high discharge rate.
- Power usage
If you use solar batteries to power large appliances and many solar lights bulb, your battery will not store solar energy for long.
- Solar batteries temperatures
The temperatures of your surrounding affects the lifespan of your solar batteries. You should device ways to protect your solar batteries from adverse conditions.
Other factors like proper maintenance and care will also affect how long your solar batteries can store energy.
What happens when solar batteries are full?
It depends of the solar battery has solar batteries controllers or not. When the solar is hot enough and the solar battery is full, the solar battery controllers will stop any more power from reaching the solar battery to prevent overcharging.
The excess solar energy can be used to power other devices and other home uses. If there are no other devices to be powered, then the excess power goes into waste.
How long can a solar battery power a house
When a solar battery is fully charged and kept under all favorable conditions, a solar battery can be used for more than 5-25 years without becoming defective. The solar battery has the ability to discharge and recharge over the period it last.
If the battery becomes defective within the indicated period, you can utilize the warranty offered by manufacturers.
A solar battery in the right condition can last up to 12 hours when in use without becoming fully drained.
How long does a solar battery last at night?
Solar batteries are designed in a way they can recharge after being used. If the solar battery is fully charged and working properly, it can light your residence at night for 10-12 hours. This however depends on the factors mentioned above.
Conclusion
Solar batteries are an effective alternative for storing excess energy from the sun. Most of these batteries will last for up to 5-25 years without going bad. This however, depends on the maintenance and care you provide you battery.
Similarly, if you want to store batteries for a longer period without charging, then you need to follow the correct procedures as well.
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”.
