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Smart Battery Systems: make your power work smarter, and cheaper.

Peak demand charges can cause 50% of your energy costs .* 
These energy spikes are avoidable.  They can cost you hundreds to thousands of dollars every month. 
*Power companies meter electricity in two ways:

• Consumption. This is your total energy use during the month (like the total number of miles you drove).
• Demand.  This is the largest capacity you required over the month at any given time (like the highest speed you drove).


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The consumption meter, the odometer, measures in kilowatt-hours. You pay X cents per kWh. The demand meter, the speedometer, measures in kilowatts. You pay X dollars per kW. Your utility's rate for both consumption and demand can vary. The rate depends on time of day, season, tiers of capacity/use and so forth.

If the printer kicks in at the same time as the air conditioner, you have a spike in demand. The utility company charges you based on that peak demand. This holds true even if you don't need that much power again the rest of the month. The utility exacts a fee for the overhead of ensuring this large amount of power is available to you at any time during the month. This extra fee is the peak demand charge.

An energy storage and management system (ESS or smart battery system) counteracts this. An ESS evens out your demand from the utility. It draws power from the solar system and deploys power when your demand spikes or energy is most expensive through energy arbitrage. A smart battery system keeps instantaneous power in reserve to handle these spikes. It pushes your demand down to a monthly average, capping your demand charge.

When you combine ESS with a solar PV system, you reduce your consumption from the utility. This manages your demand charges, something that solar can't do on its own.

Energy Storage System

How a smart battery system works, and how you save

Energy storage systems and management systems work in money-saving ways. They integrate lithium ion batteries with predictive learning load controllers. They use real-time data on your power demand and consumption. They charge or discharge in strategic ways.

The battery will learn how and when your building uses energy. The battery management software anticipates spikes in load while keeping tracking of weather data to predict solar production and HVAC loads. The battery will then charge from the solar system and deploy that energy at the most cost-effective times to reduce your peak demand or reduce your on-peak kWh charges.

ESS evens out your demand from the grid. This, in effect, cuts off the peaks.

Smart Battery Total Consumption Graph

Your solar PV system will take a big bite out of your demand during daylight hours. This provides tremendous value, but with utilities changing on peak times to the afternoon and evening, a battery better deploys that solar energy.

Smart Battery and Solar Consumption Graph

State-of-the-art equipment: Batteries can be made out of a variety of materials. Most batteries available are lithium ion batteries, but other chemistries are becoming available.

Open customer access: Real-time Internet access and monthly performance reports. Online monitoring enables you to watch your system's performance.

Guaranteed performance: All equipment is under warranty for at least 10 years. With performance guarantees from the manufacturers, adding a battery to your solar system is a low risk way to increase the savings from your solar system, and protect yourself from future rate changes.

SunGreen can help you find the smart battery system that's best for you as a stand-alone. At your option, you can choose to add one to a solar PV system, to get an even greater return.

 


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