As solar energy installation grows, so does the number of people with questions about their many options. At some point, energy storage system shoppers here in Australia find themselves having to decide between AC battery storage or DC battery storage system. These two approaches are more accurately referred to as AC-coupled battery storage and DC-coupled battery storage.
The common question people asked when choosing a battery system is the difference between AC and DC battery storage, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each.
In this article, we will give you the basic idea of what differentiates these two batteries to each other.
About DC and AC electricity
DC or (Direct current) electricity is what solar panels produce and what batteries hold in storage, while alternating current (AC) electricity is the type used on the grid and in most household devices. A device called an inverter is required to convert the DC electricity from solar panels into appliance-friendly AC.
Batteries likewise require an inverter to render their stored energy usable. If they are DC-coupled, they can share the inverter with the solar panels, while if they are AC-coupled, they’ll require a separate inverter of their own.
What is an AC-coupled energy storage system?
An AC-coupled storage system is connected to the AC grid mains that service the property (that is, the lines coming in from the street). You can think of this type of arrangement as a ‘two box’ solution – because there is one ‘box’ (inverter) for the solar panels and another for the battery bank.
The main advantage of AC-coupled battery storage is that it is the easiest and generally more cost-effective way to retrofit batteries onto a pre-existing solar PV system.
Image Source: Solar Choice. Reproduced with permission.
Examples of AC-coupled solutions include Tesla’s Powerwall 2 and Enphase’s AC Battery.
What is a DC-coupled energy storage system?
A DC-connected energy storage system connects to the grid mains at the same place as the solar panels; this usually means that they share a ‘hybrid’ inverter. You can think of this as a ‘one box’ solution because there is only one inverter instead of two.
Because they contain fewer components (which usually translates into lower costs), we generally recommend DC-coupled systems for homes considering a brand new solar & storage system (as opposed to a retrofit). Having a single inverter also allows households to get around local network capacity restrictions, which can be prohibitively small in some areas (most notably, South Australia, where the limit is 5kW for single phase grid connections).
Image Source: Solar Choice. Reproduced with permission.
Examples of DC-coupled storage solutions (which involve a ‘hybrid’ inverter) include Sungrow’s SH5K Hybrid, SolaX’s X-Hybrid series, and Fronius’ Symo Hybrid.
Which one is right for you?
Whether an AC-coupled or DC-coupled battery solution is right for your home depends on a number of factors, including whether you have a pre-existing solar system or are starting from scratch with a brand new system. To learn more about your options, it’s useful to speak with a number of professionals to get a variety of opinions.
Source: Solar Choice. Reproduced with permission.
