One Commonly Asked Question about Solar

Question: “If I get solar, will I need batteries to make it work?”

The answer to this question is No. Systems installed in the Midwest very rarely have or need to have batteries. The reason why you do not need a battery is that we are putting the energy directly back into the grid at your location. This means that you are still interconnected with the grid, making it a “grid-tied” system. When you have a grid-tied system, you do not need to store energy at your property at all. Instead of storing it, you sell it back to the energy company at the same rate that they charge you for energy. Since the energy goes directly back to your energy provider, we do not need to store it at the property.

The second reason why we do not need batteries here in the Midwest is due to the fact that in most parts of the region, energy companies do not have “Peak Demand Charges”. A peak demand charge is when your energy company will charge you more for the energy that you use at certain times of the day.

When energy companies do this, a homeowner can install a battery and the battery will store the energy, putting it back into the power grid when your energy rate is at its highest. In Western States where they have peak demand charges, installing a small battery system can save homeowners a lot of money. In states where peak demand charges do not apply, batteries are not necessary and add unneeded cost to the system. To find out if you have a peak demand charge in your area, you can reach out to your energy provider or a local solar professional.