Home energy storage supporting facilities and equipment

Are residential energy-storage systems a good investment?

Already, residential energy-storage systems are attractive for more than 20 percent of US households (Exhibit 3). That market should expand significantly as manufacturers drive down the cost of residential batteries and installers gain the experience and scale to cut installation costs.

Can residential-storage systems support the power grid?

Integrating residential-storage systems into an efficient, dispatchable network that supports the power grid won’t be easy. But evidence is emerging that it can be done. Some states have launched pilot programs that let utilities pay battery-equipped households for using some of their stored power at times when the system is under strain.

Can residential energy storage be integrated?

Annual installations of residential energy-storage capacity could exceed 2,900 MWh by 2023. The more residential energy-storage resources there are on the grid, the more valuable grid integration may become. So several states are experimenting with grid-integration programs targeted at residential energy storage.

How can a residential energy-storage network operator support the grid?

Likewise, residential energy-storage network operators will need to make sure customers have bought in to using their batteries to support the grid and demonstrate to the local utility that these behind-the-meter systems are reliable and dispatchable at a moment’s notice when the utility grid network needs the support.

Could residential batteries be used to deliver energy-storage services?

Residential batteries could be linked together and dispatched to deliver grid support services, much as utilities use demand-response programs and ancillary services resources today. Since the batteries are already in place, the marginal cost of dispatching residential energy-storage resources could be quite low.

Does Liberty Utilities charge a monthly fee to install energy-storage systems?

Liberty Utilities recently launched a pilot program that charges customers a small monthly fee to let Liberty install residential energy-storage systems, creating new backup power sources.