In today’s modern era, the electricity is the basic requirement for everyone. Electricity is essential and nowadays the requirement of electricity has increased day by day for household as well as industrial purposes. The inverter batteries are the modern solution that satisfy the electricity need during cut off by storing the electricity. The batteries used are lead acid, lithium ion, saltwater batteries etc. These batteries have wattage requirement of 12V battery for a KW energy solar setup.
There are several batteries that have satisfied the consumer’s demands by their marvelous features within the ease of reach to everyone as they are reliable and not worthy. These inverter batteries require proper maintenance for their proper functioning for a longer period of time. The solar inverter is an excellent solution for controlling the depletion of resources as well as of the environment.
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Types of Solar Inverter Batteries
The solar inverters are futile without the battery because these batteries stash the energy produced by the solar panels. Some solar inverter which do not use battery can operate only when there is sunlight. Adding battery to the solar system is one of the best measures considered for storing renewable energy which tends to decrement in the depletion of the pivotal resources. The solar inverter batteries are basically of two types- one is rechargeable and another is non-rechargeable.
Although there are many influential and hefty points that makes the solar inverter battery more reliable and useable, they are:
- Long working period and splendid efficiency.
- Less power consumption while charging itself.
- More round-trip efficiency.
- Good warranty period
Hence, on these above specifications, the solar inverter’s batteries are of many types. They are:
Lead Acid Battery:
These are being used for several years for the storage of solar energy in form of electricity. They have splendid features that are satisfying consumers’ demands. These have a wattage from 2V to 12V. These batteries have a good efficiency as they can store more amount of charge up to 80% of their total capacity without any problem. This battery has a good life span and lasts up for a long time.
The flooded lead-acid batteries are the best type of lead-acid batteries. The flooded lead-acid batteries are long-lasting than other These batteries contain the electrolyte which conducts electricity and is free to move hence, they must be sealed to prevent the squirting of this electrolyte. These batteries are cost-effective. They are tolerant of over-charging, internal impedance and can deliver high current. They are heavy and bulky.
Maintenance required:
They require high maintenance because they need the proper amount of watering in them and also there is the possibility of the leakage of the acid which may corrode the battery. The bolt which establishes the terminal connection should be tightened otherwise the thin layer of petroleum jelly would interrupt the connection of the battery while working. While charging, they release toxic hydrogen gas hence; proper ventilation should be required. Excessive charging hours may affect its efficiency. They have a nominal voltage of 2V. These batteries are widely used where the wattage requirement is high like hospitals, industries, etc.
Warranty: 3-4 years.
The Lead Acid batteries are further classified into two parts:
- Lead Calcium battery: These batteries are the modified version of the Lead-Acid battery with an addition of the calcium in the electrode which provides the marvelous advantage which makes it more resistant to corrosion, overcharging, and increases the life span of the battery. They are low cheap and require low maintenance.
- Lead Antimony battery: These are modified by adding Antimony to the electrode which is more advantageous and has a longer life span than the Lead Calcium battery.
This Lead Acid battery has been appreciated by several consumers because of its eminent features which are responsible for making it long lasting, more efficient than others and also cheap.
AGM Batteries:
The Absorbent Glass Matt is advanced from the Lead-Acid Batteries but these are more efficient than the Lead Acid Battery. In these batteries, the electrolytes are absorbed into a glass matt. These batteries are satisfying the higher electricity demands as they have splendid battery backup. These are the improved version for storing solar energy more efficiently.
Maintenance required:
These batteries should be properly installed in a cool and dry place. They should be timely charged and overcharging may lead to its damage. These batteries must be charged at an appropriate voltage of about 240V. They are available in different voltages that satisfy different wattage requirements. They are cheap in comparison to the other Lead Acid batteries. These are sealed hence, no possibility of corrosion and no requirement of watering. These batteries generally fulfill the high electricity demands.
Warranty: 1 to 2 years.
Gel Batteries:
These are versatile in nature. They have electrodes made up of sulphuric acid and silica fumes. These do not produce any toxic element while charging itself. These batteries have one-way open valves that combine the internal gases into water. They are easily accessible at high temperatures.
Maintenance required:
These batteries must be properly used with proper charging. They do not require any high maintenance but must be avoided from excessive overcharging. They have different wattage requirements like for a small home inverter their wattage is 200Ah.
Warranty: 4 to 5 years.
Lithium-ion Battery:
Lithium-ion batteries are most cherished among the consumers and have come out clean in front of the consumer’s demands. These batteries use an electrode made up of graphite. These batteries have a suitable range according to the consumer’s need. These start from 1000mah to 100ah which are designed to provide a higher voltage. These batteries are the modern solution that satisfies the household as well as the industrial demand by their marvelous long-lasting life, low maintenance, compact size, etc. These are expensive in comparison to other batteries but have maximum efficiency among all batteries. They have low internal resistance which makes them more efficient and also reduces energy consumption when they are idle or charging/working.
These batteries do not require external refilling and have fast charged with less charge losing when they are charging or idle. They have good thermal stability along with a high current rating.
Several disruptive and advanced technologies trying to compete with the Lithium Ion batteries by their new innovative inventions like Silicon based batteries, Proton batteries, Graphite dual-ion batteries, Aluminium-ion batteries, Nickel Zinc batteries, Potassium Ion batteries, salt water batteries etc. which have been developed as similar to Lithium Ion batteries but have different compositions in their electrode instead of Lithium.
Maintenance required:
These batteries require proper maintenance for their splendid work. There must be a routine check-up of battery charge status to prevent it from overcharging. A regular observation must be there to check the discharging and charging time for the batteries. The battery must not be left idle for more than 6 months, which may lead to a decrease in its efficiency. These have a wide variety in the wattage for the various purposes from 100-240 Watt. These batteries are widely used for household as well as industrial purposes.
Warranty: above 10 years
Tubular Battery:
These batteries are the modified version of the Lithium-Ion battery but are more efficient, have good battery backup, and have a low discharge rate in comparison to the other batteries. These batteries are cast with the spine tubes which have less concentration of Antimony which results in the plummeting of the water loss hence, requires less refilling and that causes an overall decrement in the maintenance of the battery. It consumes less energy while standing alone/idle and requires a low charging current which increases the efficiency of the inverter as well as provides long-lasting life to the battery. It is further classified into Tall tubular and Short tubular batteries. These have different wattages and a suitable price range of 14000 to 15000 for different purposes. They have different wattages for different purposes like 150AH to 900AH for fulfilling all household and industrial requirements.
Maintainance required:
These batteries must be well maintained for a long-lasting life of the battery and this would be done by cleaning the battery surface, ensuring tight connections and time to time proper removal of the layer of the petroleum jelly deposited on it, the water level must be maintained in the battery. By practicing all these measures, the battery must be maintained. These batteries are one of the most used batteries for household purposes.
Warranty: 6 to 8 years.
- Tall Tubular Battery: These tubular batteries are easy to install and maintain. They are designed to resist the shock. They are reliable, durable, long life of up to 8 years, and have a good battery backup.
- Short Tubular Battery: These batteries are completely shockproof and it is different in structure as compared to the tall tubular batteries. They ensure high durability with long-lasting life span of 5 to 15 years.
Best Batteries that have made storage more sufficient
The batteries have been innovated which has fulfilled the market demands by their extremely splendid feature that make them more durable and efficient. The battery’s power and capacities have been increased to the current rating that further increases the efficiency of the battery. The manufacturers have been making the batteries more durable but there are some preventive measures that should be adopted to increase the battery life and efficiency:
- Prevent overcharging.
- Prevent from high charging as well as high discharging current.
- Installed in suitable environmental conditions.
- Prevent improper equalization.
Hence, all those above factors are responsible for the depletion of the life span of the battery. Many batteries have been using an extra amount of charge while they are idle as their chemical reactions inside the batteries are going on. This further leads to the decrease in efficiency of the solar power. Hence, to reduce this several batteries have been innovated which have reduced their electricity consumption while charging themselves or working idle.
The tubular batteries have been considered as one of the best batteries because of their splendid features like having a low maintenance cost, have a tremendous backup, etc. These have been appreciated where there is a higher requirement of the electricity and have frequent power cuts and also have an excellent wattage of 900VA wattage with fast charging. These are not worthy and are suitable for household as well as industrial purposes with a marvelous warranty.
Solar Inverter: A boon to advanced generation
These are devices that convert DC current produced by panels to AC supply which can be further wield for commercial use. Solar inverters are sublime and these are admired by the consumers as it does not need any ancillary electric supply that other inverters need. Therefore, it saves electricity and gives more electricity hence, more efficient.
Components
- Solar Panel: The solar panels glean solar energy from sunlight. They are consequential for solar inverter. These are fabricated by several solar cells (silicon cells) converts sunlight into DC current by photoelectric cells which is further sent to inverter that converts into AC.
- Battery: The DC current which comes from solar panel gets stored into the battery and the inverter acquires the DC supply from the battery to convert it into AC supply which further gets wield by home appliances. These batteries have a life-span about 5-15 years and requires no ancillary maintenance. Eg. Lithium-ion battery, Lead-acid battery, saltwater battery etc.
- Step up transformer: When the DC current is converted to AC the step-up transformer increases the AC voltage, that is suitable to home appliances. The step-up transformer also increases efficiency of solar inverter.
- Voltage Regulator: It provides a regular voltage to the inverter as voltage from solar panel is variable and never stable. Without voltage regulator battery would be heated up by variable DC supply.
All these components are designed to increase the efficiency of solar inverter.
Since solar energy produces DC current but home appliances wield at AC current and the solar inverters venture this. Solar inverters are a crucial fragment of today’s lifestyle and without it the solar energy is nugatory and this would lead to depletion of resources as well as an increase in global warming and other environmental issues. Solar inverters are much better than any normal inverter as solar inverter produces current using direct sunlight but a normal inverter produces current by using electricity hence, a normal inverter increases the electricity bill that’s why there is a need for a solar inverter. It has satisfied consumers’ demands those need a partial amount of electricity hence, reduces electric bills.
Limitations of solar inverter
The solar inverter has concocted the people’s lifestyle facile by their splendid technology but it also has several reins. The solar inverter’s cardinal issue is tributary to sunlight. Hence, working is not feasible without sunlight. It is generally during poor weather conditions. Another issue is about its physique. The solar inverter needs solar panels that must be installed where a kosher amount of sunlight falls on it. Hence, there is a requirement for a lot of bare space. Although solar energy is a boon to us and solar inverters are excellent in producing and storing that produced energy but the inverter and battery costs high and are unaffordable to middle-class families. Also, solar panels are worthy and their further wiring and the shed all these costs a lot.
Although solar inverters have these limitations the technology has pandemic increased the efficiency of the inverter. They have developed several innovative schemes by changing the connection pattern of panels, by changing the installation place of the inverter, by introducing a battery within the inverter. All these technologies have delineated consumers by providing them easy maintenance.
Are Solar Inverters Better?
The harnessing of the electricity from the sunlight is done by solar panels and this is in the DC form which is futile for fulfilling household requirements hence, the solar inverter converts this DC into AC supply which is useful. These solar inverters are more efficient than normal inverters. The solar inverters are storing the DC current into the batteries which further gets used but the solar inverter does not consume any extra current for their working as other inverters do hence, an optimal way for storing the electricity. In daily life, global warming has been increasing which is caused by the depletion of resources like coal, fossil fuel, etc for producing electricity which causes pollution, therefore, solar energy is termed green energy.
Limitations of solar inverter: The solar inverter has concocted the people’s lifestyle facile by their splendid technology but it also has several reins. The solar inverter’s cardinal issue is tributary to sunlight. Hence, working is not feasible without sunlight. It is generally during poor weather conditions. Another issue is about its physique. The solar inverter needs solar panels that must be installed where a kosher amount of sunlight falls on it. Hence, there is a requirement for a lot of bare space. Although solar energy is a boon to us and solar inverters are excellent in producing and storing that produced energy but the inverter and battery costs high being unaffordable to middle-class families. Also, solar panels are worthy and their further wiring and the shed all these costs a lot.
Although solar inverters have these limitations the technology has pandemic increased the efficiency of the inverter. They have developed several innovative schemes by changing the connection pattern of panels, by changing the installation place of the inverter, by introducing a battery within the inverter. All these technologies have delineated consumers by providing them easy maintenance.
Conclusion
The solar inverters and their batteries are lucrative for the blooming era. These are a renewable source of energy and also prevents the environment from several hazardous problems like pollution, deforestation, etc. The splendid and futuristic technology has been developing solar inverter much better efficiency. All those technologies have provided a marvelous device that has been fulfilling market demands, reduces environmental peril. The inverters batteries have been prospering with new technology that makes it more reliable, safe, their availability of different wattage and ease to handle. These play a requisite role because solar panels convert solar energy into DC current which can’t be supported by our home appliances hence, it converts DC to AC with greater efficiency and the battery stores that electricity which can be further used for fulfilling the household as well as industrial needs. These need extra care while maintenance as a small blunder may be fatal to health as well as appliances.