Hello From San Diego, CA

[Mattmitz]

Hello, I found this site while researching solar and finally decided to join. You all are very helpful and I was hoping to get some clarification from you experienced folks. Is anyone familiar with the LG RESU 10h battery? I am considering this component for my solar system however cannot decide if its quite worth the money. Specifically how does the battery get "wired" into the system? Does the battery send stored energy back to the house for consumption, or is this only when there is a power outage? Does the battery have programable settings on how it operates or does the invertor's capabilities determine how the battery operates?

Thanks

[JSchnee21]

Hello Mattmitz,

Generally, battery storage systems are not yet cost effective, but California can be the exception. Your power company and the state have a number of incentives which discount/rebate battery storage systems (as much as 50% according to some posts here on the board). Additionally, I believe (though not 100% sure) if you buy your battery system with your solar it can be included in the 30% federal tax rebate as well. Battery storage serves two purposes -- backup as you've already identified -- and consumption shifting (aka delaying). Depending on your PoCo rate plan, energy consumption during peak demand hours is a lot more expensive than during off peak. A (large enough) battery storage system will help you shift your consumption later into the evening when rates are lower.

But, depending on your goals for the system, the battery system(s) and the install costs can be expensive. This is because one single battery unit will not be large enough (in most cases) to carry the entire load of your house. So, in general, you either need to purchase more than one battery unit to run in parallel to carry your entire panel OR you will need to re-wire your loads to split off what is and is not covered by the battery system. So realistically, your probably looking at $10-18K all in before rebates -- or more if you have a larger house.

LG, Tesla, Mercedes, and others all make reputable battery storage systems

https://www.energysage.com/solar/solar-energy-storage/

The question then becomes:
1) how much value do you place on backup power? -- a natural gas or diesel generator is likely cheaper and will run for longer (than the batteries will last)
2) Given the cost differential for electric power between peak and offpeak where you live, and your typical daily consumption during the time period, how many years/decades will it take for you to break even on your storage investment? Given that a storage product will likely only last for ~10-15 yrs, will you break-even before it fails?

-Jonathan

[solar pete]

Hello, I found this site while researching solar and finally decided to join. You all are very helpful and I was hoping to get some clarification from you experienced folks. Is anyone familiar with the LG RESU 10h battery? I am considering this component for my solar system however cannot decide if its quite worth the money. Specifically how does the battery get "wired" into the system? Does the battery send stored energy back to the house for consumption, or is this only when there is a power outage? Does the battery have programable settings on how it operates or does the invertor's capabilities determine how the battery operates?

Thanks

Howdy Mattmitz and welcome to solar panel talk, We have used the LG Chem (resu) battery, the first version were worse than a bad joke, it seems they have sorted some issues with the second version.
That being said we are advising our clients that they are better off to wait until these batteries are ready for prime time, they are not cost effective and we do still have the odd issue. We feel they need to get quite a bit cheaper before the make sense but hey if you are the early adopter type go for it, cheers.