The installation of photovoltaic panels in single-family homes, buildings, businesses, and other types of locations typically have a lifespan of over 20 years. But it is necessary to take into account the correct maintenance of the installations, which, however, is not complex. In this sense, we have to talk about one of the elements that compose and elevate them Tips to extend the useful life of solar batteries for self-consumption.
As we just indicated, maintaining solar panels is not complicated for several reasons. We emphasize that the manufacturers already design the boards in such a way that they can withstand low temperatures in winter, wind storms and heavy rains and even, due to the inclination during their installation, the birds are prevented from building their nests in them.
Even so, as with any type of product or service, users and consumers can always take some steps to protect their investment. Due to the high electricity prices we have had for a long time and the rising cost of living and inflation, installing solar panels is an important decision to save money on your electricity bill and incidentally promote environmental sustainability. .
Therefore, besides you know how to choose a solar battery in a self-consumption installation, would like to explain some recommendations to extend the useful life of solar cells for self-consumption. It\’s all about achieving maximum performance and taking advantage of one hundred percent of its possibilities in the medium and long term.
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5 ways to extend the useful life of solar batteries for self-consumption
We don\’t forget to remember what are batteries for solar panels: This is the system that allows the storage of excess electricity generated by solar panels after capturing the sun\’s rays. This electrical surplus can have two uses, since it is not electricity consumed as soon as it is generated:
- Storing energy for later use
- Selling surpluses to the electricity grid
At the same time, we remember that there are different types of batteries for solar panels, with more or less long lifetimes: lithium batteries, monobloc (gel, AGM and open acid lead) and stationary batteries.
Now yes, we can summarize how the maintenance process to extend the useful life of solar cells in self-consumption installations in four five ways. As you can see, they are simple and actually require no extra effort for solar PV users.
1.- Keep the batteries at a constant and cool temperature
First, we recommend that you keep batteries for solar panels at a good temperature. It is advisable to keep the batteries at a constant and cool temperature because if they get too hot, their useful life decreases and they lose their productivity and efficiency when it comes to storing the electricity generated by the panels.
How can we keep solar batteries at a constant temperature of about 25 degrees Celsius? In a very simple way, placing them in places protected from weather conditions and ventilated.
Therefore, make sure that if you are a user of photovoltaic panels for self-consumption in homes, to ask the installers the most suitable place in your specific case when they are going to install them in your block or private residence. If the photovoltaic installation is for a company, the advice is the same, of course.
2.- To have adequate loading and unloading levels
A second tip to extend the useful life of your solar panel batteries is to have proper charging and discharging levels. More precisely, the recommendation is, first of all, to charge the batteries correctly, always following the manufacturer\’s instructions.
In addition, it prevents them from fully discharging so as not to reduce their useful life in the long term, while avoiding overcharging them. In this second case, not only is there a risk that they will last less, but they can even be irreparably damaged, having to change them.
Likewise, when we talk about charging and discharging batteries for solar panels, you need to have an adequate charging speed to avoid overcharging the installations and corrosion of the plates. In any case, the recommendation is to always follow the manufacturer\’s instructions of the panels you have installed.
3.- Protect solar batteries against overvoltage
We all know that there are always moments of surge in an installation in our home or office. Power outages are inevitable, they can happen at any time, but if you are a solar PV user, the useful life of your solar panel batteries will also largely depend on overvoltage protection.
For this, you will need surge limiters or protectorsdevices located in electrical panels and protecting from sunlight all devices that are connected to the electrical network, including all elements of electricity production facilities.
These surge arresters They jump when there are voltage and voltage peaks, divert the current and prevent damage to the devices connected to the light.
4.- Regular maintenance of the photovoltaic installation
The fourth tip to extend the useful life of solar panel batteries is to periodic maintenance of photovoltaic installations. The usual thing with other elements of an office block, for example the lift, is that there are annual reviews and some specific ones when a fault occurs.
Exactly the same thing happens with the maintenance of solar installations and batteries. At this time, at we recommend some simple overhauls and tasks such as cleaning the terminals and checking the charge levels of the solar cells. Advice that should be followed by both private users and solar installations of self-consumption in companies.
As they say, prevention is better than cure, so if you detect any kind of malfunction in the functioning of batteries, it is always better to notify the responsible company when you see it in a periodic review than to suffer the consequences of a malfunction. this could have been avoided.
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Conclusions on extending the useful life of solar cells
In this article we wanted to explain how we should maintain solar batteries for self-consumption. Doing this is simple, the manufacture of solar panels, taking into account details such as their correct inclination to increase their productivity or the type of batteries they incorporate, already guarantees their correct operation for several decades.
Either way, with these tips to extend the useful life of solar panel batteries, you as a consumer can add more direct control. Some measures must be taken during installation, and others, as we explained, are managed or controlled by consumers in their daily use of the facilities.