Solar Lattice

Concept

Usable energy capacity

ID
concept:usable-energy-capacity
IRI
https://solarlattice.org/kb/concept/usable-energy-capacity
Status
active
Also known as
usable energy, total vs usable energy, nameplate energy capacity, usable battery capacity, usable capacity
Category
Storage
Concept kind
technology

Usable energy capacity is the part of a battery's total stored energy that the system can actually draw on. The rest is held back as a reserve. Training material equates usable energy with depth of discharge. A backup reserve and a minimum state of energy set how much charge stays unused in daily cycling. For the SolarEdge Home Battery, the material shows 90% as usable and an example backup reserve of 20%. SolarEdge says the battery offers full depth of discharge, without the 5% manufacturer reserve that other batteries keep. In an SMA planning example, a battery with 10000 Wh total capacity has 50% used by the Sunny Island for storing PV energy, which gives 5000 Wh of usable capacity. A new battery's usable capacity matches its nominal capacity for a ten-hour discharge (C10). It falls as the battery ages, and state of health is reported as the ratio of currently usable capacity to nominal capacity. Usable capacity also depends on temperature: it drops noticeably at 20°C and below, and SMA battery management reduces it by 1% per °C starting at 20°C. Usable energy matters for system design because more of it raises self-consumption. In the SMA example, the self-consumption quota rises from 30% to typically 65%.

<!-- review notes

Claims

related_to

c1 drafted · lead Depth of discharge

Training material labels usable energy as the depth of discharge portion of total energy.

c2 drafted · lead Backup reserve

Total battery energy is split into usable energy and a reserve; a backup reserve setting holds back part of the energy.

review note: support check: partial - Slide shows usable energy and reserve split of total, and a Backup Reserve in the depth-of-discharge diagram, but doesn't explicitly state a backup reserve setting holds back energy from usable energy.

c3 drafted · lead State of health

SOH is reported as the ratio of currently usable capacity to nominal or rated capacity, in percent.

c4 drafted · lead Self-consumption

Usable battery capacity is an input when estimating the self-consumption quota; more usable energy raises self-consumption in the SMA example.

c5 drafted · lead Battery energy storage system

Referenced by

Data