EDINBURGH, Scotland, June 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Costs for residential battery energy storage in the UK remain too high. For storage to enter the mass market, suppliers have to innovate their customer propositions and business models. This is the conclusion of new research from Delta-ee's Energy Storage team.
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The research shows that the payback for a newly installed PV + battery storage system is more than 16 years. Julian Jansen, manager of the Delta-ee Energy Storage Research Service, says "with PV + battery storage having been talked up to be the future of the UK's residential PV market, finding ways to reduce this payback and make storage more attractive to customers is crucial to grow the market."
The chart above shows the results of Delta-ee's in-house modelling profiling end-customer payback periods for a PV system (4kWp) combined with a typical 3kWh Lithium-ion battery storage product, today and in 2020. The payback improves by 2020 but remains over 10 years despite the forecast reduction in storage system costs. "We expect prices for energy storage systems to fall by around 10% annually", explains Julian Jansen, "but even by 2020 this may still not be sufficient to allow the UK market to grow above 15,000 units p.a."
In contrast, the market in Germany is already above this level - as the result of a combination of subsidy, higher electricity prices and a bigger PV market. But Delta-ee's research also shows that in Germany new business model approaches are being established, and that these approaches will be needed in the UK to reduce customer paybacks below 5 years* - the point at which mass market potential becomes realistic. Delta-ee identifies two key options:
Ultimately, the three factors Delta-ee have identified - cost reduction, additional revenue streams for customers and innovative financing - will all play a role in bringing residential energy storage into the mass market in the UK.
More information on the Energy Storage Research Service - and the 'European State of the Market' report under which the above analysis was published - is available from http://www.delta-ee.com.
*Source: Delta-ee Heat Insight Service customer research
The latest Delta-ee Energy Storage Research Service report provides insights on:
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About Delta-ee
Delta-ee (www.delta-ee.com) is a specialist distributed energy and heat research and consulting company that helps clients navigate the transformation of the energy system. Headquartered in Edinburgh and with offices in England, the Netherlands and Denmark. Our clients comprise many of Europe's leading utilities; heating appliance manufacturers; controls companies; policy makers; and investors. Delta-ee provides a range of subscription research services, consultancy and specialist Summits.
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