Best Solar Batteries to Buy in 2020

If you are reading this, you either already have a solar system and you’re looking to utilize it further using solar batteries or you’re thinking about going solar and you want to know if it’s worth it to buy a solar battery with it. That, or you’re a college student and your professor is making you research about solar energy.

Before diving into which home battery would be perfect for you, let us first talk about the different kinds of solar batteries that are available in the market.

Types of Solar Batteries

  1. Lead Acid – the cheapest in the market although not as reliable as the others. They have shorter life spans and less capabilities, but they are best for completely off-the-grid areas due to their price. There are two types of lead acid batteries:

    • Flooded – the cheaper kind of lead acid but it requires a lot of maintenance and its own ventilation.
    • Sealed – does not require as much maintenance as flooded lead acid batteries but are more expensive.

  2. Lithium-Ion – the most popular type of solar battery in the market now. Currently, most of them have a 10-year life span and smart capabilities. However, they are significantly more expensive than lead acid batteries. They don’t require maintenance and they look better than lead acid batteries, but installation costs are very expensive. Most of them have a 70% depth of discharge.

  3. Flow – a relatively new type of solar battery that is mostly being used for large-scale energy storage only. It is better and safer, unlike other batteries which may have tendencies of exploding because it contains no heavy metals. Flow batteries have a 100% depth of discharge, which means you can drain its battery and it won’t have an effect on its lifespan.

  4. Sodium Nickle Chloride or Salt Water – another new type of solar battery but like flow batteries, they are still not widely available. They are completely free of heavy metals too, has a great depth of discharge and their lifespan comes somewhere in between that of the lead acid and the lithium-ion’s.

There are many solar batteries available in the market, but we picked the best one for each type to help you narrow down your search.

Best Lead Acid Battery

Universal UB121000-45978 12v 100AH Deep Cycle Battery

The Universal Deep Cycle AGM Battery is a sealed lead acid battery that has been the top pick lead acid battery for a couple of years now. It features an absorbent glass mat technology, is very versatile and very easy to install. Depending on your daily power needs, you may buy its 12V, 24V, or 48V version, which all have a 1-year warranty.

Price: 299 AUD (Link)

Best Lithium-Ion Battery

Tesla Powerwall 2

The Tesla Powerwall is a very smart, capable, and proven lithium battery in the market. It boasts many great features including being weatherproof and its capacity to continuously run for more than 7 days during a power outage. It has a 10-year warranty and is also connected to the Tesla ecosystem which allows you to monitor it through Tesla’s app.

Price: 10,000 AUD + supporting hardware + installation (Link)

Best Flow Battery

ZCEll Redflow

The ZCell REdflow battery is the world’s smallest zinc-bromine battery which makes it ideal for residential homes. It requires no maintenance and has very smart capabilities. It also features completely reusable, recyclable, and safe materials, plus, all the characteristics of a flow battery like a 100% depth of discharge. It has a 10-year warranty.

Price: 17,500 – 19,500 AUD (Link)

Sadly, there are no available residential saltwater batteries as of the moment. Although there was a manufacturer called Aquion Energy who used to make them. However, they went through a bankruptcy and stopped operations in 2017. In the same year, they were bought by Juline-Titans LLC, but stated that they are no longer supporting Aquion’s previous products. Philip Zhang, the company’s CEO, stated that “We are refocused on technology and go-to-market opportunities that will grow significant volume for the company in the coming years. We now need to focus on what we do best—creating the safest, cleanest, and lowest-cost per kWh-cycle battery technology in the world—with a simple business model that can effectively compete in the marketplace.”

Hopefully, we will see them again soon.