The people of Off-Grid Energy
December 13, 2023
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Originally published at irradiate.co
The cost of installing battery storage in your household is falling rapidly. Investment bank Morgan Stanley has predicted that storage costs could fall by over 40 percent over the next two years.
This is all the more reason to Install Redflow’s first residential battery offering, ZCell. ZCell is a breakthrough 10kWh system that includes a battery made from easily recyclable or reusable components.
But falling prices are not the only reason you should think about installing solar storage in your home. We’ve rounded up the top 8 benefits of installing the ZCell battery storage system.
ZCell has the potential to cut the ‘consumption charge’ of your electricity bill. This charge is dependent on the amount of electricity you draw from the grid. Rather than drawing power from the grid when your solar panels aren’t generating electricity (i.e. at night), you can use the power you’ve stored earlier.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to remove the fixed ‘supply charge’ of your bill if you remain connected to the grid. This equates to approximately $0.80 – $1.50 per day, depending on where you live.
To cut this fixed charge you would need to go ‘off-grid’. While this may be an attractive option for many people, we don’t recommend this just yet. This is because if there is ever an issue with your system you may be left without power for a period of time. Nonetheless, going off-grid is quickly becoming more achievable with battery technology developing at a rapid rate.
Generous Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) programs will be rolled back at the end of the year for several states. More than 200,000 households in NSW, Victoria, and South Australia will be affected and may have rates slashed to an average of 4.8c/kWh.
Those affected with be hit with a bill shock of about $1,500 — but up to as much as $4,000 for some households.
This appears to be a deliberate move to push households to buy battery storage, and to lock in long-term deals with electricity retailers. Thus, it will soon make economic sense to buy ZCell if your household relies on the FiT program.
That way you can take advantage of the power you generate in the day, without the need to import or export energy to the grid.
The average solar system will prevent between 1.75 – 2.05 tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere every year.
Although, unless you’re home during the day, most of the power you generate will be exported to the grid. So even with a solar system installed you will still need electricity generated from fossil fuels.
The larger your battery’s capacity, the more energy you can store for later. So by storing the solar power you generate with a ZCell battery, you will decrease your reliance on ‘dirty’ power drawn from the grid.
Unlike many battery storage systems available on the market today, many of ZCell’s components are easily recyclable. For example, the tank, electrolyte pumps and electrolyte stack can be easily removed and recycled.
Also, the zinc-bromide electrolyte fluid isn’t expected to degrade with age. At the end of its 10 years warranted life (or potentially even more) it can be removed, cleaned, and used in a new battery.
About 8,000 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries are being thrown away every year. So Redflows focus on keeping used battery components out of landfill will go a long way.
Solar batteries are sexy. Okay, maybe that’s going a little too far but it is certainly a hot new technology trend that everyone is talking about.
If you love being the centre of attention, you’ll love ZCell. Your friends, family, coworkers, business partners, sports team and drinking buddies will all be itching to find out more.
ZCell is about the size of a bar-fridge. Yet, it is capable of powering your house for one or two days. Also ZCell is a smart battery and can be controlled with your smartphone.
That is sure to invite some questions.
ZCell lets you discharge 100 percent of its total stored energy every day. Whereas other battery types can require a certain percentage of their storage capacity to be locked out to prevent battery damage and to extend battery life. Meaning you can take advantage of the full capacity of your ZCell battery, rather than 80 or 90 percent of it.
Additionally, ZCell is warranted to deliver its full 10 kWh of stored energy each day for as long as 10 years. During that period, lead acid and lithium batteries can lose a significant portion of their storage capacity.
Battery storage is still new in Australia. But it shouldn’t be long until it becomes a mainstream technology. In fact, Morgan Stanley expects the market for battery storage to grow to one million by 2020. But its “high case” suggests the take-up could be double that – up to 2 million homes by 2020.
This shift in electricity generation and distribution would mean that Australia could transition to a ‘smart grid’ setup. Here households will be able to buy and sell energy into the grid, without the need for electricity retailers.
If you have a family, their health and safety are of paramount importance to you. So you will be happy to know that ZCell is a safe battery to install in your home.
ZCell’s flow battery design is inherently safe. Mechanical damage does not risk explosion or a short circuit. To top it off, ZCell’s electrolyte is a natural fire retardant.
ZCell has the potential to change the way we store and distribute electricity in Australia. With Feed-in-Tariff programs ending, the price of batteries falling, and with the environmental benefits, installing a battery storage system in your home makes sense.
ZCell raises the bar in home energy storage by offering large energy storage capacity, inherent safety and robust performance.
For more information see our ZCell page.
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