Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to the most common questions about our services.

Is an emergency generator better than a battery?

It depends on your purpose. A generator can basically run for a long time as long as there is fuel and can provide a lot of power, but makes noise, requires maintenance and you have to handle fuel and exhaust safely. A home battery is quiet, readily available and requires little maintenance, but is limited by available capacity. In some situations a combination (battery for 'instant' backup + generator for long term) is most robust.

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The cost of a home battery varies widely and depends entirely on your situation and needs. There are compact plug-and-play batteries that you plug directly into the wall socket, as well as complete systems with large storage capacity, advanced inverters and even off-grid capabilities. The complexity of the installation also plays a role in the total price.

At SunCharged, we look at your energy consumption, house type and future plans with you. Based on that, we'll create a custom quote to ensure you get what's right for you. A home battery connected in the meter box starts at about 4000 euros, including installation.

With a dynamic energy contract and a home battery, you always benefit from the lowest energy rate of the day. Exactly how much you save depends on several factors such as your energy consumption, solar production, the capacity of your battery and current power prices. Especially with large price differences in the energy market, a smart battery can make all the difference. By charging when power is cheap and discharging when rates are high, you maximize your solar power as well as market prices. At SunCharged, we are happy to help you understand your personal savings potential.

Although the net metering scheme remains in effect until 2027, a home battery can already be profitable if you have a dynamic energy contract or want to maximize self-consumption.
Additionally, you'll be prepared for the phasing out of the net metering scheme and benefit from price stability.
We're happy to advise you on the best timing for your specific situation.

A home battery stores excess solar power that you don't use immediately.
When your panels produce less or no electricity (for example, in the evening or during cloudy weather), you first use the stored energy from your battery before drawing power from the grid.
This increases your self-consumption of solar energy to up to 70-80% and reduces your dependence on the electricity grid.

At SunCharged, we select only high-quality home batteries from reputable manufacturers that are designed for long life. Manufacturers often provide a warranty based on charge and discharge cycles - around 6,000 cycles is common today, which equates to 15 years or more with normal use.

The exact lifespan depends on the battery type, usage pattern and number of cycles. Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries typically offer the longest life. Even after the warranty period expires, most batteries will still function, although the storage capacity does decrease over time.

Full off-grid living is legally and practically difficult in the Netherlands. A grid connection is required by law for homes. Nevertheless, there are technically possible solutions for people who want maximum independence. Think of systems with large battery capacity, smart energy storage and possibly an emergency generator as backup for periods with little sun, such as in winter.

For most households it makes more sense to stay connected to the grid as a safety net. However, with a properly sized system, you can significantly increase your self-sufficiency to about 70-80% on an annual basis.

At SunCharged, we design systems that maximize your independence, while maintaining grid security.

For an average Dutch household (3,500 kWh/year) a 5 kWh battery is usually sufficient.

The ideal capacity depends on your daily power consumption, usage pattern, the power of your solar panels and the functionalities you want to use.
At SunCharged we analyze your specific situation to determine the perfect battery size that fits your energy needs, desires and budget, without unnecessarily investing in overcapacity.

If your battery is fully charged and you're generating more solar energy than you're using, the excess power is automatically fed back into the electricity grid.
Until 2027, you'll still benefit from the full net metering scheme.
After that, you'll receive a feed-in tariff from your energy supplier.
With a smart energy management system, you can also choose to run certain appliances extra when there's a surplus.

In 2025, there is still no national subsidy for home batteries, but there are local initiatives and pilot projects in various municipalities.
Additionally, you can benefit from VAT refunds if you have a dynamic energy contract and your battery can trade on the energy market.
At SunCharged, we closely monitor all subsidy opportunities and advise you on the schemes you can use.

Advantages: a home battery increases your self-consumption of solar energy by up to 80%, lowers your energy bill and makes you less dependent on the grid. In addition, it provides protection against price fluctuations, especially when combined with dynamic energy tariffs.

Disadvantages: the initial investment is relatively high, and you need a suitable place to safely install the battery - preferably indoors or in a well-ventilated location.

At SunCharged, we're happy to help you determine whether a home battery is a smart choice in your situation.

Absolutely!
A home battery combined with a dynamic energy contract is an excellent strategy.
You can charge your battery during hours with low electricity prices and discharge when prices are high.
This can significantly increase your savings, up to €500-600 per year.
At SunCharged, we advise on smart energy management systems that automatically respond to price fluctuations, allowing you to maximize the benefits of both your battery and dynamic rates.

A modern home battery takes up approximately the space of a small cabinet or washing machine (30-100 liters).
Most models have a wall mount and protrude about 20-30 cm from the wall.
We work with you to find the ideal location in your home, such as a garage, utility room, or technical room.
At SunCharged, we consider not only technical aspects but also aesthetics, so that the battery fits nicely in your home.

In most cases, a permit is not required for a home battery.
However, for apartments or monumental buildings, permission from the VvE or municipality may be required.
At SunCharged, we assist you with all necessary documentation and can contact your VvE or municipality if necessary to ensure a smooth process.
We ensure that your installation fully complies with all local regulations and safety standards.

Absolutely.
When your battery is fully charged and you produce more electricity than you consume, the excess energy is fed back into the grid.
For this, you receive a feed-in tariff from your energy supplier.
Until 2027, you will still benefit from the full net metering scheme.
A smart energy management system can help optimize the balance between own use, storage, and feed-in for maximum financial benefit.

This is not standard. In a normal installation, your home battery shuts down during a power outage. This is not only because of safety, but also because the power could otherwise flow into the public grid through your smart meter. To still maintain power during an outage, a closed system must be created in the home. This can be done with a backup function or an off-grid capability, which keeps your battery working completely autonomously. At SunCharged, we are happy to advise on these solutions and help you choose what suits your situation and budget.

Modern home batteries offer between 5,000 and 10,000 full charge and discharge cycles, depending on the type and quality.
With daily use, this means a lifespan of 13 to 27 years.
Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries perform best in this regard.
At SunCharged, we select batteries with the highest cyclic lifespan and excellent warranty terms, so you can use your energy storage system worry-free for years to come.

Yes, there is an important difference: DC-coupled systems connect the battery directly to the solar panels before the inverter, which is 3-5% more efficient but requires a compatible hybrid inverter.
AC-coupled systems place the battery on the alternating current side after the inverter, which is easier to install and more flexible with existing solar panels.
At SunCharged, we advise on which coupling is best suited to your situation, taking into account your existing installation and future expansion plans.

Yes, with Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) technology it is in principle possible to use your electric car as a home battery. To do this, you need a suitable car (such as a Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Ioniq 5 or KIA EV6) as well as a bi-directional charging station.

In practice, this technology is still under development, and regulations and certification also play an important role. Many parties, including car manufacturers and grid operators, are working hard on this. SunCharged follows these developments closely and will certainly facilitate V2H solutions in the future, as soon as this is technically and legally feasible.

For a standard home battery installation, your grid operator does not need to be directly involved.
Only when feeding back above 3x25A (17.3 kW) do you need to report this to your grid operator, such as Liander or Enexis.
At SunCharged, we take care of all technical aspects of the installation and assist you if necessary with communication to your grid operator.
We ensure that your system complies with all grid codes and safety regulations.

A home battery contributes positively to the environment by increasing your self-consumption of solar energy (up to 80%) and reducing the load on the electricity grid.
This reduces the need for fossil fuel backup power plants during peak moments.
Although battery production is energy-intensive, this 'ecological debt' is more than made up for during the battery's lifetime.
At SunCharged, we only work with manufacturers that use sustainable production processes and offer good recycling programs for used batteries.

Trading on the EPEX market means being smart about your energy consumption and storage: you use power or charge your battery when the price is low, and you consume less or feed back to the grid when the price is high. This works in conjunction with a dynamic energy tariff, where the price of power changes every hour. With a smart energy system, this happens automatically. This provides financial benefits and helps keep the energy grid in balance.

The Bliq Energy Manager is a smart device that gives insight into your energy use, generation, and charging behavior. It controls devices like your charger or battery based on solar production and dynamic pricing to lower your energy costs.

Trading in the imbalance market means helping to keep the power grid in balance by being flexible with your energy consumption or storage. The power grid must be in balance at all times: there may not be too much or too little power.

If, for example, you temporarily take off less or more power or feed it back at a time when the grid needs it, you can receive compensation for this. With smart software and a suitable energy system, this happens automatically and you can therefore earn money by balancing the grid.

All home batteries eventually deliver just 230V AC voltage to your home, but the difference is in what happens before the energy reaches the grid. That determines the efficiency, energy consumption of the inverter and how practical the system is for your situation.

High-voltage (HV) systems, such as those from Sigenergy, Growatt, Anker and SolarEdge HV, use a higher voltage between battery and inverter. This allows less current to flow, creates fewer losses in cables and inverter, and leaves more energy for your home. The round-trip efficiency of these systems is typically around 92-96%. HV is especially interesting for larger households, heat pumps, EV chargers or if you want to easily expand later.

Low-voltage (LV) systems operate at a lower voltage which means the inverter handles more current. As a result, the charge-discharge efficiency is usually slightly lower than for high-voltage systems, usually around 88 to 92 percent.

LV systems are technically suitable for both small and larger households as long as the inverter chosen and the total power are matched accordingly. They offer a safe and stable solution and can be more favorable in terms of price than high-voltage alternatives.

AC-coupled systems, such as Enphase and SolarEdge's AC options, already convert energy internally to AC voltage. That makes them very easy to install with existing solar panels, without the need for complicated DC wiring. Efficiency is slightly lower due to the extra conversion step, typically around 90-94%, but for most households that difference is hardly noticeable.

Plug in batteries are a form of AC coupled systems that operate at low voltage and can be plugged in through a wall outlet. They offer flexibility and are safe when properly installed. Available power is limited. In practice, you can usually only feed back up to about 800 watts through a wall outlet. Only when the battery is connected directly to its own group can this be higher, usually around 2 to 3 kilowatts continuously. Efficiency is lower, averaging between 86 and 91 percent. This makes them less suitable for larger consumers such as a heat pump or an electric car. For small domestic use and as a complementary solution, however, they can be interesting.

In short, HV is the best choice if you want maximum efficiency, power and expandability. LV wins on cost, simplicity and safety for small systems, while AC-coupled and plug-in are especially practical for retrofit and quick installation. Which option fits best depends on your consumption, system size, cable spacing and plans for the future.

Only if the system is set up to do so. Most standard (grid-connected) systems switch off as soon as the grid fails (anti-islanding). If you do want power in case of a failure, you need an inverter/battery system with an emergency power/backup function (often with an automatic or manual transfer switch) and a separate backup group(s) or critical loads distributor. So whether it works automatically depends on the hardware and configuration chosen.

It depends on which groups you have connected to the backup and the power of the inverter. In practice, many people choose basic utilities such as lighting, modem/wifi, phone chargers, refrigerator/freezer and a few outlets (e.g. living room). Heavy consumers (cooking, washing machine, heat pump) are sometimes possible, but only if the installation and inverter are sized accordingly.

Yes, you can, but only with a "whole-home" backup design: sufficient inverter power (possibly 3-phase), proper switching and sufficient battery capacity. This is technically quite possible, but not standard with every home battery. Often the choice is made to back up only the main groups, because it is cheaper and your emergency power duration will be longer.

Yes, you can, provided the inverter provides enough (peak) power and the battery has sufficient capacity. Heat pumps can require high continuous power and sometimes a higher starting peak. This can cause the battery to run down relatively quickly when actively heating. In an emergency situation, it is often wise to use large consumers only when functionally really necessary and the system is explicitly designed for that.

That depends mainly on (1) your average consumption during the outage and (2) the usable battery capacity (kWh). With basic supplies (e.g., 200-600 W average), a battery can often last many hours, sometimes a day or longer. If you use heavy consumers such as cooking or a heat pump, it goes considerably faster. If your solar panels can continue to generate in backup mode, that can extend emergency power life by (partially) recharging the battery.

This varies by heat pump type, outdoor temperature and home. As a rule of thumb, you often see about 1.5-4 kW of electrical power during running (with peaks higher). A 10-15 kWh battery can then be mostly empty in a few hours. In an emergency power scenario, it is therefore important to determine in advance whether heating/hot water is really part of your backup goal and whether your inverter and battery are dimensioned accordingly.

It depends on your purpose. A generator can basically run for a long time as long as there is fuel and can provide a lot of power, but makes noise, requires maintenance and you have to handle fuel and exhaust safely. A home battery is quiet, readily available and requires little maintenance, but is limited by available capacity. In some situations a combination (battery for 'instant' backup + generator for long term) is most robust.

It can be done, but it is one of the heaviest consumers in the home. Induction often has peak power of about 3-7 kW (depending on the cooktop and phase connection). That requires an inverter with sufficient (peak) power and it drains your battery quickly. In an emergency situation, it is often smarter to limit electric cooking or use it only briefly, and match the power/capacity to your expectations.

A well-stocked, closed freezer often stays cold enough for 24-48 hours if you keep the door closed. With a home battery/backup, you can keep the freezer (and refrigerator) running or occasionally 'adjust' it with short cooling pulses, keeping the temperature stable longer. This is typically an ideal example of a "critical load" for emergency power.

You determine that by (1) which groups you want to back up and (2) how long you want to be able to use them. As a guideline: basic utilities (light, wifi, cooling) are often around 5-10 kWh. For more comfort or multiple groups, 10-20 kWh makes sense. For "whole-home" backup, 20-40 kWh or more is common. Note: In addition to kWh (expensive), inverter power (kW) is also crucial, especially for devices with high peak loads.

Any energy storage requires secure installation, but modern home batteries (especially with LiFePO₄ chemistry) are designed with extensive safeguards: BMS (battery management system), temperature and current protection, and inverter protections. It is still important to work with certified components and a competent installation (ventilation, placement, wiring and fuse) so that the system remains safe in all situations.

Yes. With most emergency power solutions, you choose which groups go on backup (critical loads). Commonly chosen groups are refrigerator/freezer, lighting, modem/wifi and a few outlets. This is customization: the distributor/switchover is set up for your home, your priorities and the inverter power available.

A grid-forming inverter can build its own stable voltage and frequency during an outage (a "mini-grid" in the home). This allows some systems to continue to run in islanded mode and allows solar generation to continue in a backup configuration to power your consumption and/or recharge the battery. This is a core component of systems that are really meant for emergency power.

When the battery runs out, the backup system usually shuts down and the backup groups become de-energized again. Once grid power is restored (or once PV generation in backup mode is sufficient, depending on your system), the system can recharge and possibly switch back on. Some systems you can set with a minimum backup SOC so you don't accidentally consume all of it.