How Can a Solar Battery Reduce Peak Demand Charges?
Peak demand charges on your utility bill can be tricky to understand—so much so that when we decided to help break down this issue for homeowners in Phoenix and the surrounding areas, we decided it would be better to split the subject up into two parts. In Part 1, we focused on what exactly peak demand charges are, how they affect your electricity bill, and how they differ from other utility rate structures like flat rates and time of use rates.
Today, we’re tackling energy bill solutions—how you can avoid paying more for the same amount of electricity. With solar battery energy systems from SouthFace Solar & Electric, not only can you avoid peak demand charging, but you’ll gain greater energy independence from your utility company as well.
How Solar Batteries for Your Home Can Help You Avoid Peak Demand Charges
Utility bills with peak demand charges can still create issues for homeowners with solar PV systems, as it’s likely that the times of peak energy use in your house don’t always line up with the time of day that your Arizona solar panels are producing the most energy. The average home tends to use most of its electricity between the hours of 5 pm and 8 pm on weekdays, for example, long after the point of peak solar production.
That’s where a solar battery system comes in! With a home solar battery system, you can store excess solar energy and use it to reduce or even eliminate the electricity you would normally need to draw from the grid to power your home during your peak and high electricity consumption hours. Even if your solar battery system doesn’t completely eliminate your need for electricity from the grid, you can use it strategically so that you’re only paying your utility’s lowest rate for power while relying on renewable energy for the rest.
Additional Benefits of Solar Battery Storage
Avoiding expensive utility bill charges isn’t the only advantage to solar power battery systems.
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Use your stored solar energy at night
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Lower your carbon footprint
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Avoid power outages and blackouts
With a solar battery storage system, you can use solar to power your home whenever you want, including at night. Since solar is a clean and renewable energy source, any additional opportunity to power your home with solar (instead of electricity from the grid) will be better for the environment and will lower your home’s carbon footprint. Finally, solar batteries can help keep the lights and wifi on and fridge running with backup power for your home during an outage.
Get Help with Your Home’s Energy Usage from the Leading Solar Company in AZ
Like the solar panels for your Arizona home, solar batteries qualify for the federal solar tax credit, which allows you to take a federal tax credit that reduces a significant percent of your taxes of your total installation costs. At the end of 2020, this solar tax credit was extended. In 2021 and 2022, the solar tax credit will remain at 26% before reducing to 22% in 2023, and then completely eliminated for residential solar installations in 2024, so it pays to act now. For commercial systems from 2024 onwards, they would be eligible for a 10% tax credit.
SouthFace Solar can also help you find additional solar incentives to lower your solar installation and solar battery storage system costs, including advice on SRP and APS rate plans for solar battery storage and local state tax credits. Our team of solar experts can help you transform your Maricopa, Pinal, or Gila County home or business—find out just how much you could save today.
