A decade ago, off-grid rooftop solar was overtaken by grid-tied solar. A similar scenario is being presented by residential storage batteries. Truly, the global residential storage market is quickly becoming vibrant and revolutionary even as residential battery systems deployments into the market continue to balloon.
In Australia, the benefits of installing a solar photo voltaic (PV) system by homes or businesses are huge. In fact, this is considered one of the driving forces behind Aussies’ switch to solar and residential energy storage.
In the last twelve months, residential energy storage has gained unstoppable momentum thanks to the high electricity prices and the technology’s potential to bring a notable energy transformation within the grid power system.
Utilities and homeowners steering the revolution
Apparently, the transformation in the storage industry is being driven by both utilities and homeowners, all with varied needs.
While households are embracing storage systems for monetary savings or backup energy needs, utilities are adopting the new technology to mitigate the impact of over-penetration of solar on the grid.
With residential storage, consumers will have increased peace of mind since it provides backup in the event of grid power outage.
Fortunately, battery storage is gaining prominence among homeowners, businesses and state governments who often grapple with the question of how to prepare for inevitable blackouts during natural disasters like heavy rains and hailstorms.
Going forward, we will see greater involvement of both utility and governments in the residential storage market as more utilities anticipate to access, own and distribute the energy storage systems.
Australia’s state governments are already backing residential storage 100% hence positioning Australia as the most attractive energy storage market globally. In fact, several companies like Sonnen, AlphaESS, GmbH and Eguana Technologies are primed to establish their local battery assembly plants in SA.
Statistics from BNEF indicate that more than 70,000 Australian homes will install energy storage batteries in 2019; a scheme poised to be funded by a whopping A$147 million in subsidies from the state government alongside low interest loans and flexible demand response plans.
In case the federal opposition wins this year’s election, an additional A$200 million will subsidise a further 100,000 homes batteries in the coming year 2020.
According to the latest forecast, Australia’s demand for residential storage systems will compromise 30% of the overall global demand while household’s home storage demand is expected to triple in 2019.
While achieving this may be a no walk in the park, BNEF hopes that Australia will remain the most attractive market for home storage batteries owing to the high penetration of residential solar system (with one in five households having installed) and the rocketing electricity prices.
In conclusion, trends in industry growth and underlying drivers of the market point to a robust future for residential energy storage. The market has great potential to evolve and stakeholders in the industry are eyeing advanced technology and regulatory actions to continue driving this evolution.
