How farmers can calculate savings from solar + battery storage

Using feedback provided by users and attendees of its tutorial webinar, NSW Farmers has updated its Solar PV + Battery Financial Analysis Calculator.
The calculator now incorporates new features and uses more accurate algorithms to improve the analysis.

Changelog:

• A new algorithm has been introduced to estimate the price of a solar PV system if the user selects ‘Don’t know’. Estimated costs will now reflect the average prices for a system of the particular size under consideration. The new algorithm has been produced using pricing information from quote aggregator SolarChoice. This algorithm will be updated on a monthly basis going forward.
• The ‘state of charge’ of the battery will no longer default to zero at the start of each week (Monday). Instead, the calculator will predict the starting state of the battery based on a simplified preliminary analysis.
• ‘Battery degradation’ is now incorporated into the calculator tool. Using a template for the typical capacity degradation profile of lithium ion batteries, the tool will now de-rate the capacity of the batteries based on a typical profile. This profile may be adjusted by changing the end-of-cycle-life retention factor, the cycle life of the battery, or the parameters that influence the number of cycles the battery will endure through the analysed period. More information on how this is calculated is available in the following post: Battery capacity degradation in the Solar + Battery Financial Analysis Calculator.
• New consumption profiles have been added to the calculator tool and redundant ones have been removed. The new profiles reflect different residential scenarios and have been derived from charts made available by sunwiz.

• The upgraded tool presents more information on baseline and upgraded consumption, including: yearly bills, portion of consumption that falls during peak, off-peak and shoulder times.

Click on the button below to access the updated Solar PV + Battery Financial Analysis Calculator:

The calculator tool can provide you with an estimate of the financial performance of a given solar PV-battery system on the basis of the reduction of consumption of high-cost grid electricity it affords. Remember, however, that there are new arrangement models that may permit you to derive additional savings by contributing towards demand management as part of the wider electricity network (see Reposit Power).
Gerry Flores is energy innovation manager at NSW Farmers