Home battery storage could “revolutionise” solar industry
Pairing solar panels with home battery storage could be the cheapest electricity option within three years, according to a report by the Climate Council.
The not-for-profit group said battery storage would "revolutionise" the way people accessed electricity, as it would let homes get off the traditional grid.
As grid electricity becomes more expensive, the report said Australia could be the number one market for home battery storage.
"Anyone who has PV [photovoltaic cells] on their roof knows they're paid a fraction – maybe a tenth – of what it costs them to buy power off the grid," the Climate Council's Andrew Stock told ABC.
"If they have a tool, a battery, that can allow them to store the surplus power during the day and use it at night, it means they're going to get greater control than they already have over their power bill."
In April, US-based technology and automotive company Tesla revealed their cheap lithium ion battery, Powerwall. They are planning to mass produce them and by 2020, the factory is expected to produce 35 gigawatt hours of lithium-ion battery storage each year – that’s more than the entire worldwide production of the batteries in 2013. The battery is estimated to cost around $5,500 and Tesla, along with another of the world's biggest home battery manufacturers, EnPhase, has announced Australia will be its first market.
Mr Stock said the technology would upset the existing network operators and believed some companies were already changing their prices in an attempt to stop solar and battery combinations.
"It's really important that the traditional players in the industry see this as an opportunity instead of a threat, because if they look at this as an opportunity they'll be thinking 'how do they leverage this technology into their businesses?'" Mr Stock said.
"If they see it only as a threat, that will put back Australia from potentially being a leader in the uptake for up to a decade.”
Source: ABC
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