There are lots of ways to store electrical energy.  The best way to store electrical energy for an independent power plant is in rechargeable storage batteries. The advantages of rechargeable storage batteries over other means of storing electrical energy are:

• almost all of the energy stored in them can be recovered
• they are very simple to use
• they can store and recover energy efficiently at a wide range of power flows
• they hold the energy stored in them reasonably well over time
• they are reasonably transportable.

Multiple rechargeable storage batteries are usually used together to form a storage battery bank.  The storage batteries in a storage battery bank are connected together to provide the appropriate voltage, amperage, and storage capacity to suit the particular application. Most rechargeable batteries that are used in storage battery banks are a form of lead-acid battery.

Caring for a storage battery

The lead-acid batteries used in a storage battery bank may be damaged if they are discharged too deeply or if the charging process is performed incorrectly.  Good quality charging equipment will ensure that the storage battery bank is not damaged during the charging process, and that the entire charging process can occur properly without any attention from you. When solar panels are used to charge the storage battery bank a solar controller manages the charging process. The charging process may also be performed by a mains-powered battery charger. Eniquest’s PowerMaker generator incorporates a controller that manages the charging process.