Save energy costs: Use balcony power plants with storage: These options are available

The clouds part and the sunshine falls directly on the solar panels on the balcony. It starts again with electricity production at full speed. The Electricity do it yourself and save money – more and more tenants with a sunny balcony or terrace want that too. But it’s not quite as simple as the manufacturers of the balcony power plants promise. For example, there is a requirement for a special power socket – an electrician has to install it.

Balcony power station with storage: Clever use of power stations in the home – this is how it works

Or the balcony power plant produces more electricity than indoors Household is needed at the moment – then the energy simply flows into the grid and is lost, at least for the operator of the mini solar system. But the hurdles that still exist when operating a balcony power plant can be circumvented. This even applies to the obligation to report to the Federal Network Agency via the electricity network operator. This is made possible by storage devices for solar power – so-called power stations and solar generators. These batteries absorb the sun’s electricity and release it again when needed.

The energy from a balcony power plant is not even in the in-house power grid fed. The consumer uses the electricity directly – for a computer or television, for example. Alternatively, the power station also recharges mobile devices in the household – such as smartphones, tablets or sound boxes. In addition, the electricity storage for balcony power plants have an additional benefit in an emergency. Should there be a blackout – i.e. the public power supply fails – they serve as an emergency power supply, at least for a short time.

Balcony power plant with power station as storage: How the solar storage can be connected

A full battery is always sufficient for evening lighting – especially since LED lamps only consume little electricity. How many devices one power station can supply and how long the memory manages this depends on the respective performance. The number of hours of sunshine and the output of the balcony power plant also play a role here. The selection of power stations is now large and the charging capacity of the models commonly used for small solar systems ranges from a few watt hours to two or more kilowatt hours.

How it works is simple: the balcony power stations can be connected directly to the power station – this is how it is charged. Alternatively, the battery from the power grid be charged directly or, with some devices, from the car battery; during a trip, for example. In addition to USB inputs, the systems also have normal Schuko sockets. Common household appliances such as lamps or landing gear can be conveniently connected to the solar storage tank.

Balcony power station with storage: Performance is crucial – many power stations have a catch

The performance of a power station for balcony power plants is crucial to the type of electrical equipment that can be powered by it. If it is not sufficient, even a fully filled memory will not help. The vacuum cleaner – as the self-experiment shows – then only sucks at half power. The power of the small power stations is usually not sufficient for an electric stove or the wax machine – i.e. devices with high performance. In addition, the balcony power plants should not exceed a certain output – otherwise it can be dangerous.

The advantages of electricity storage are obvious: Since the balcony power plant is not connected to the grid at all, there are no bureaucratic obligations. Here the promise is true – just set it up and connect it – then it starts. In addition: It will not be self-generated Electricity fed into the public power grid without yield. If the capacity of the battery is sufficient, you can use every kilowatt hour of solar power yourself. The bottom line is that this saves a little more energy costs.

Balcony power plant with storage: more power has its price – consumers have to pay that much

But the advantages are great Disadvantage against – this can nullify the savings effect again. Because power stations are still an expensive purchase. Especially given the current development of electricity prices in Germany, the acquisition costs for this investment will only be amortized after several years. The same applies to the mini solar system itself: the costs for a balcony power plant have risen again for consumers during the energy crisis – the supply and demand factor also plays a role here.

A common electricity storage device from the “Ecoflow” brand currently costs 570 euros and also has a capacity of just 510 watt hours. Half a kilowatt hour is not enough to power a television for a longer period of time. With increasing output, the costs for the storage for a balcony power plant explode – consistently with all providers. An Ecoflow power station with a capacity of 3,600 watt hours and a high output power is already available with more than 3,300 euros in the catalogue. In between, there are now a number of battery variants on the market.

High costs for balcony power plants with storage: How consumers can save with subsidies

Calculate in the medium term Experts | in this segment rather with falling prices. But first you have to dig deeper into your pockets. If a power station is purchased together with a ready-to-plug-in balcony power station set, since the beginning of January 2023 there has also been a substantial tax reduction for the batteries. Since the beginning of the year, VAT has no longer been levied on the mini power plants. That’s why the acquisition costs for the complete solar packages with battery have already fallen accordingly.

There are also various savings potentials funding programs at the municipal level. Several cities pay hundreds of euros in grants for a balcony power plant – but in some cases certain conditions have to be met. Berlin has now also followed suit and initiated a subsidy for the mini solar systems. And where can consumers find the information for government grants? You can find out more in the linked post.

Conclusion on balcony power plants with storage: Storage capacity and costs – still a few hurdles

The conclusion to this: Various innovations such as electricity storage make balcony power plants as additional energy source more attractive – but there are still hurdles. On the one hand, both the power stations and the balcony power plants comparatively expensive and the acquisition costs are only amortized slowly. On the other hand, the storage capacity of many power stations is not yet sufficient. In the distant future, fuel cells could be a solution here – primarily for large solar systems.

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