In life, people usually install solar panel systems in order to save money on their home electricity bills. Sometimes solar panels produce excess electricity, at which point there are roughly two ways to dispose of the excess. One is to store it using solar battery, and the other is to sell it to companies through net metering. So, what should be the choice between these two methods? Let’s find out how to choose today.

What is net metering?

Net metering is a billing structure in which the electric utility company purchases excess power generated by the customer’s solar panels. Depending on where it is located, net metering can be categorized into three different types, full retail net metering, time-of-use net metering and avoided cost net metering. However, the first two types are usually used.

Full retail net metering: the electric utility will value the excess power based on the retail price of local electricity, when the solar panels produce excess power, it will be delivered to the grid, and the customer can get a credit at that utility equal to the cost of the electricity, which can offset some of the consumption of the electricity.

Time-of-day tariff net metering: varies according to the demand for electricity at each time of day. For example, electricity is more expensive during peak times and cheaper during low peak times. The price of excess energy is positively correlated with the price of electricity, the higher the electricity bill, the higher the price of excess energy.

What is battery storage?

To store the excess electricity made by solar panels, solar battery must be used. Solar panels can be connected to an entire solar system so that the excess electricity produced by the solar panels can be stored in solar battery for daily use.

What are the advantages of net metering and battery storage?

Advantages of net metering: Using net metering to process the excess power converted by the solar panels does not require the purchase of expensive solar cells, which means that net metering is less costly.

Advantages of Battery Storage: 1. It can act as a back-up power source when the grid goes down. 2. It can store excess power converted by solar panels and avoid selling it to the power company at unfavourable prices.

What are the disadvantages of net metering and battery storage?

Net metering:

1. The price at which excess power is sold to the utility is often lower than the price at which the utility sells it. This means that net metering is not as economical as battery storage.

2. When the grid goes down, customers may face the dilemma of having no electricity at all.

Battery Storage:

Because of the need to store excess power, the number of solar batteries used is greater than the number of solar batteries used in net metering. Moreover, solar cells are expensive, and the cost of battery storage method is higher than the cost of net metering method.

Which is the most cost effective, net metering or battery storage?

It depends on the user’s objectives. Although the battery storage method costs more in the short term, it may save more money if accumulated over a long period of time. Therefore, there will be different options depending on the user’s situation.

For example, when a user works away from home for a long period of time and returns home once in a while for a short period of time, it would be more cost-effective to choose net metering. If the user lives at home for a long time and the grid is often cut off, choosing solar cells to store excess power will be more in line with the user’s actual needs.