Solar Panels & Battery Backups

Sunnova: How Solar Panels Plus Battery Backup Protect Your From Peak Energy Rates

Battery storage helps you get more out of your solar system while also safeguarding your home. You may already know that having a battery can protect you against power outages since it stores energy from your solar system to use when electricity isn't available. But did you know that if your utility provider has time-of-use rates, a battery storage system can also help you optimize your energy savings? Well it can! Let's start with explaining time-of-use rates.

Traditionally, utility companies charge depending on how many watts you use. Nowadays, utility companies have time-of-use rates, meaning your utility company charges a higher or lower price per watt depending on the time of day you use electricity from the grid. For example, during peak-demand hours, like weekday evenings when most people are arriving home and running their air conditioning and appliances, utilities charge more for electricity. During off-peak times when people are usually at work or school, or if they’re running around town on the weekends, power companies charge less for energy.

With Sunnova sunsafe solar plus battery storage service, you can better control when and how much electricity you need from the grid thereby reducing or avoiding peak time-of-use rates. Here's how it works.

Sunnova Sunsafe comes with smart software that can be configured to automatically manage the flow of energy to your home based on your specific time-of-use rate structure and habits. For example, at times when rates are lower, you can use electricity from the grid to power your home and store the energy your solar system generates to charge your battery. During times when rates are higher, you can use the stored energy from your battery to power your home and reduce the amount of expensive electricity you pull from the grid.

If you're ready to take more control of your energy costs and become even more energy independent, then adding battery storage to your solar system can help you maximize your investment no matter what your utility company or Mother Nature throws at you.