You will come across a lot of complex product specifications as you evaluate your solar-plus-storage options. Battery capacity and power ratings, and discharge depth (DoD) are a couple of the essentials to keep in mind as you’re making your decision.

As its name suggests, capacity is how much electricity is able to store, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). The majority of solar batteries feature a “stackable” design, which means capacity can be increased when using multiple batteries with a solar-plus-storage system.

Though capacity indicates the size of the battery, it will not indicate the amount of electricity the battery can output. For a better understanding, you may wish to take into consideration the power rating of the battery. In regards to solar batteries, The power rating is the amount of electricity the battery can supply at the same time, measured in kilowatts (kW).

A high-capacity battery with a low power rating would provide a small amount of electricity for a long time (enough to operate a few essential appliances). A battery with low capacity but a high power rating could keep an entire home running, albeit for a couple of hours.

Because of their chemical composition, most solar batteries need to maintain some charge at all times. If you use 100% of the charge of a battery, it will shorten its useful life immensely.

A battery’s depth of discharge (DoD) refers to the amount of capacity used by a battery. For optimum performance, most manufacturers will specify a maximum DoD. For instance, if a 10 kWh battery has a 90 percent DoD, before recharging it, you should refrain from using more than 9 kWh of the battery. In general, a higher DoD means you can use more of the capacity of the battery.

This update is by A&A Power Generators, a national company providing Dedicated Power Systems with global reach. Our mission is to meet emergency power needs by delivering dedicated power solutions and services for residential and commercial markets in ways that are economically and environmentally sustainable.

We aim to be your sole choice for new and lease Generac generator solutions as well as service and maintenance repair, with decades of power industry experience. For more information on generators in stock or other questions, please call 1-888-991-4500.