Installation - practical considerations
Installing a battery storage system on an existing or new solar PV system needs some thought and consideration. Batteries are heavy, bulky and temperature sensitive. Ideally, a location at room temperature or cooler with plenty of ventilation and not humid. The kitchen, garage or utility room would be preferred to say, the loft.
The batteries should always be located close to their inverter/charge controller to minimise the losses in the low voltage battery cables.
Many existing PV systems have the solar inverter located in the loft. With a DC coupled system, the batteries and charge controller need to be close to the solar inverter and it’s really not a good idea to have a bulky battery system located in the loft if it can be avoided, especially a 200Kg+ lead-acid system. As described in earlier sections, we generally recommend an AC coupled solution to retrofit an existing solar PV system and in this case, the battery system can be located nearer to the grid supply, somewhere near the consumer unit.
For new systems, DC coupled, a large, well ventilated loft may be considered but Lithium-ion would be a lighter, less bulky option. If other locations are available, such as the garage or utility room, then there needs to be enough room for the PV system as well as the battery storage system. If space is limited, then an AC coupled system may be the better option with the solar inverter in the loft and the batteries in the garage.
Consideration also for making connections to your router (for monitoring and configuration) and in some cases, running a back-up power supply in the event of a power cut.
SolaSave will conduct a free site survey and advise accordingly.