Battery reserve comparison
Solar Battery Reserve Strategy Comparator — Compare Backup SOC Policies
Compare three battery reserve strategies to see how much energy remains available for self-consumption versus a protected backup reserve.
Common battery assumptions
kWh
%
%
USD/kWh
Reserve strategies
Low reserve
Balanced
High backup
A higher reserve keeps more energy available for a future outage but reduces the amount of stored energy available for routine self-consumption.
Enter battery capacity, current SOC and three reserve policies.
Why battery reserve strategy matters
Battery dispatch can serve different objectives. A self-consumption strategy may favor deeper discharge, while a resilience strategy deliberately protects a reserve for outages. The "best" SOC policy therefore depends on the system's purpose.
Usable energy above reserve = battery capacity × (current SOC − reserve SOC)
What this comparison does
Each strategy is translated into deliverable energy and approximate energy value. The comparison makes the opportunity cost of reserving more battery capacity visible.
What it does not decide
It does not predict outage probability or determine a safe emergency reserve. Those are system-specific planning decisions.