Solar and batteries should be ‘open’.

Many of you thinking about Solar panels and batteries will be concentrating on the cost of the system, how much energy the system will produce and how it will save you money. Something that is not widely known is that the best energy systems rely on software and connectivity (usually the Internet) to work properly or in some cases, at all.

Historically Solar panels were installed on your roof, connected to an inverter which in turn was connected to a meter so that you could see how much energy the system produced. These systems could be installed and almost forgotten about, there was no other equipment to maintain. Depending on the quality of the systems you could find that for many many years you would not have to do anything with your Solar installation.

However things are very different now. To get the most out of your Solar installation you will ideally add some form of battery storage and connect the system to the Internet. You will have one or more software apps that control various elements of the system to maximise the use of the Solar power generated and the battery storage. In some cases you may find that your energy provider such as Octopus will want to work with your system. You may be adding an EV charging point which again will be connected and ideally will work with the Solar and Battery.

We are now starting to see that the inclusion of technology into energy systems has resulted in rapid development and innovation. This means that even though your Solar panels will have a 25+ year life, the technology that ensures maximum benefit will change quickly and often. The only reason I mention this is that installers and suppliers of Solar and battery systems will need to be able to offer on-going technical support. No longer will electricians be able to simply install solar panels, then walk away.

The other major difference is that purchasing a system and choosing a supplier has become technical. You are now choosing a long term partner. You will want a system that is ‘Open’, has the ability to work with any energy provider and is flexible enough to take advantage of the new energy trends and markets that are emerging. Many energy companies are developing systems that are ‘closed’ locking users into a particular equipment supplier or working with a particular energy provider.

There will be a lot of change in the energy markets over the next few years. As most of the expensive energy hardware should have 20+ year life, you do not want to limit its flexibility, functionality or worst of all, limit its ability to save and/or make money.