Solar battery installation in Florence, SC

Local storage case

Why storage does or does not fit in Florence

Florence has the strongest self-consumption argument for storage in our territory, and it comes down to arithmetic rather than climate. Duke Energy Progress credits exported power at roughly 2.6 to 4 cents against your full retail rate. That gap is wide enough that shifting midday production into evening use is where most of a system's value is created, which makes storage less of an add-on here than in Dominion territory.

The resilience case is genuine but different from the coast. Storms coming inland off the coast still cause outages on this part of the grid, but they are typically shorter than a coastal hurricane event, so sizing for a day or two of essentials is usually the right answer rather than sizing for a week. That keeps the battery smaller and the price more defensible.

Practically, generously sized Pee Dee lots mean placement is rarely constrained, and there are few architectural-review controls to clear on visible external equipment. The variable worth checking early is the age of the electrical service and how the critical-loads subpanel will be arranged, since on older properties that work can be a larger share of the cost than the battery itself.

Written for Florence specifically. Your own roof, bill and meter still decide the answer, which is what the free assessment settles.

The maths changed

Storing a kilowatt-hour now beats exporting one

One-for-one net metering closed to new applicants on 1 June 2021, and new Duke Energy Progress systems are credited under Duke's current residential solar rate structure instead, at roughly 2.6–4¢ per kWh for exports. Sending surplus power to the grid is no longer almost as good as using it, which is what changes the case for a battery in Florence.

You still buy power at your full retail rate. The gap between that and what an export earns is the entire case for storage.

A battery closes that gap. Instead of exporting afternoon surplus for a few cents and buying evening power back at full retail, you store the surplus and spend it yourself. For a household that is out during the day and home in the evening, this is the difference between a system that barely moves the bill and one that does what you expected.

We are not going to promise you a figure for that, because it depends on your usage shape and your rate. What we will do at the assessment is model your actual load profile against your actual rate and show you whether storage earns its cost at your address.

See the full rate picture on Florence solar incentives, and how self-consumption drives payback on Florence solar cost.