Q CELLS is a popular solar panel manufacturer based out of Seoul, South Korea. Like many other solar panel companies, Q CELLS recently decided to expand their business into the energy storage space. Their new product, the Q.HOME ESS HYB-G1, is a modular energy storage solution that can help keep your lights on during power outages.
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sonnen eco: the complete battery review
sonnen is one of the biggest names in energy storage technology, and in 2016 the company announced a new battery designed for home use: the sonnen eco. The eco is a fully integrated energy storage system that includes an inverter and smart energy management software. Property owners with solar that install a home battery like the eco are able to store excess solar electricity for use later in the day. As a result, properties with solar-plus-storage can increase their total monthly savings in certain markets. (Note: check out our review of sonnen’s other primary product line–the ecoLinx–here.)
Continue readingAutoGrid’s Flex Saver program
Installing solar-plus-storage is a great way to save money. We all use electricity, and the electricity produced by solar panels is less expensive than what you would otherwise purchase from the grid, meaning solar can help you save significantly over decades while your panels are producing electricity. But solar and storage do more than just help you save on your own electricity bills: combined, they can help reduce the overall cost of electricity to the grid as a whole (see our recent guest post from Synapse Energy Economics).
Continue readingHome batteries for renters: what are plug-in batteries?
Whether you’re looking to lower your electricity usage during peak electricity hours or have a backup power supply in the case of an outage, home batteries are becoming increasingly popular. However, most energy storage systems require installation and electrical wiring, making it difficult for people who rent or own a condo to take advantage of these benefits. Some companies have recently acknowledged this gap, launching plug-in battery solutions that don’t require installation by an electrician – this is making home batteries more accessible to everyone, regardless of whether you have access to your main electrical panel.
Continue readingThe white gold rush for green lithium: can lithium production be done responsibly?
Lithium has been hailed as ‘white gold’ for its versatility and value in today’s world. But what exactly is it? Well, lithium powers technology spanning from the computer you’re reading this on to lifesaving pacemakers. Basically, any portable electronic device contains lithium. Lightweight, powerful, and rechargeable, this metal’s value also lies in its role as an essential piece in the clean energy revolution. Lithium batteries’ high energy density and ability to be recharged make them uniquely suited to power the electric vehicles (EVs) and electric grids of the future. However, despite the metal’s importance in the clean energy revolution, it’s incredibly resource-intensive to extract and this process causes environmental distress, leading many to wonder: can we produce lithium responsibly?
Continue readingShould your business invest in energy storage?
Energy storage is a great option for commercial properties looking to cut energy costs and improve reliability. With storage prices decreasing in recent years, state and federal incentives to install storage, and increasingly complex–and pricey!–electricity rate schedules for businesses, there’s never been a better time to install solar and storage at your business. To help you decide whether storage is right for your organization, here’s a rundown of how storage works and the primary reasons that businesses are installing storage.
Continue readingSolar news: October 1st, 2021
In this week’s news roundup, we discuss an important update from Washington and a new study testing the viability of power sharing between neighbors.
Continue readingWhat is a virtual power plant?
At its core, a solar panel installation at your home or business is basically a miniature power plant – even more so once you add a solar battery to be able to store the solar electricity you produce and use it even after the sun has gone down. As more and more homes and businesses install solar panels across the country (we’re at over 3 million solar installations nationwide!), these distributed, miniature power plants present an opportunity: if you aggregate enough of them together, you can turn all of those miniature solar power plants into one, larger “virtual” power plant. Here’s how virtual power plants work and how you can participate in one.
Continue readingIntroducing the Tigo Energy Intelligence Residential Solution
If you’re familiar with the residential solar market, you’re probably aware of the two main players providing inverters to residential solar installations in the US. But those two companies are far from the only companies providing inverter (and inverter-adjacent) products in the residential solar market in the US.
While their optimizers and rapid shutdown devices have been installed on many roofs throughout the country, one company you may not yet be familiar with is Tigo Energy. However, Tigo Energy is banking on that changing with their latest product launch: the Tigo Energy Intelligence (EI) Residential Solution, which brings Tigo-branded products to the forefront of a solar and solar-plus-storage installation.
Continue readingWe read LG Chem’s battery warranty so you don’t have to
Let’s face it – warranties aren’t the easiest (or most gripping) documents to read. There are often a lot of details and fine print included that can be hard to digest, leaving many to wonder: what does the warranty actually cover? Am I vulnerable? Anything I might be missing?
To make it as easy as possible, we’ve read warranty documents for the top solar battery manufacturers, talked to them to confirm what is and isn’t included, and plan to point out the most important aspects of each in a series of articles. This article reviews the warranty offering from a world renowned electronics manufacturer: LG Chem.
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