For anyone who has been paying attention to energy trends over the last year, it’s clear that energy storage is huge in the residential solar market. In fact, according to a recent Wood Mackenzie U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report, Q2 of 2020 saw residential battery installations grow 38% compared to Q1, indicating that installations have remained resilient in spite of the pandemic. Though, even as some homeowners put solar installation plans on hold during the COVID-19 crisis, the urgency of tax credits — which end next year — can’t be ignored.
But after energy storage becomes a mainstay of the solar industry, what’s next? While solar + storage is expected to continue to grow in popularity, the overall energy storage market is projected to reach $6.9 billion annually by 2025. The future is bright as we look to more opportunities to advance solar energy and increase homeowners’ control over their home energy systems.
Personalization
Residential energy storage is customizable to fit every home’s individual needs. But manufacturers differ in their approach to product solutions. Some manufacturers provide customers with a choice between AC- and DC-coupled batteries with a wide range of kilowatt-hour scaling options, whereas others provide a one-size-fits-all approach. After installation, most energy storage systems allow the homeowner to change basic system operation via a smartphone app. These settings typically include operating modes and percent dependence on battery reserve, which may be set to specific times to use the battery during the day, or setting the battery charge level to 100% in anticipation of a grid outage.
As batteries continue to gain popularity among homeowners, the next evolution in energy storage will be wider adoption of solutions that provide more insight into energy consumed by different devices throughout the home, and enable the homeowner to make better decisions in how and when they use energy. Leaders in the industry have the opportunity to bring homeowners “smart” solutions that learn their individual preferences for energy expenditures and automatically optimize the home’s usage via advanced algorithms.
Recent Comments