If you are one of the many people considering domestic solar power for your home, you will need to think about batteries. Solar Cell Batteries store the power that is generated by photovoltaic solar panels. If you are to see the full benefit of Solar power, it makes sense to use photovoltaic cells and batteries, rather than just using solar power to heat water.
A solar systems needs a battery which can stand several hundred charge cycles - ie it will be charged up and then run down hundreds of times. A car battery, for example, can only withstand 4 or 5 charge cycles, and is therefore inappropriate.
Leisure batteries are cheaper and smaller batteries. They have a charge cycle of about 100 charges and are therefore only really good for leisure use - in a holiday home for example, or a caravan
A Sealed Battery is the best for home solar power use. Sealed batteries are more expensive, but are very easy to maintain and can run for many hours: perfect for home use.
The temperature at which your battery is stored will have an effect on the amount of power it can distribute. A battery needs to be kept relatively warm, since if it drops to 0 degrees celsius it will only be performing at 50% of its capacity.