Energy · September 2026
When to buy batteries — and when not to
Storage is expensive chemistry. Treat it with suspicion and respect.
Batteries make solar feel like a generator. They also dominate capital cost, fail in heat, and get stolen. The mature question is not “how many kWh?” It is “which hours are truly intolerable if they go dark?”
A packhouse that processes in daylight may need almost no storage, especially if net metering is available. A clinic fridge needs a tightly watched bank and a spare. A house that only wants television after 8 p.m. might be better with a small lithium bank and ruthless load discipline than with a room full of dying lead-acid.
Our bias, stated plainly
- Daytime productive use first.
- Net metering or a mini-grid as shared storage where the rules allow.
- Right-sized lithium with temperature and low-voltage protection — not the cheapest crate at the border.
- Monitoring that screams when a cell goes wrong.
Bring the load list. We will argue with you about the battery until the argument is cheaper than a replacement bank.