Would a small home battery system (2kwh), without any solar, help with household energy bill crisis

Section62

Spies said:

I don't really understand why there isn't a grant for a small home storage battery for households because the idea can be sold as a saving to the householder whilst simultaneously relieving strain on the grid at peak times as the OP has stated.

Instead BILLIONS are being spent on creating one new nuclear power plant that won't even cover half the capacity of those that are due to be decommissioned in the next few years.

Because if billions aren't spent on nuclear then there won't be anything to charge all the batteries when the sun isn't shining and the wind speed is out of range for generation. Unless we go back to burning coal instead.

Aussie_Tips

@Section62 you are correct in everything you say, however does that make the implementation today a non-starter? 

I think with some tweaking this approach can make a difference for those in energy hardship. We just need a few changes to tariffs and VAT.

PS - I did try to find out how to move to the energy forum but couldn't find out how to do it, so I started a separate thread in energy.

ariarnia

is there a basic intro thread somewhere for how someone could work out if this was good for them or not and how to do it? we're about to get our first electric car and ive read about the ev tariffs with a battery but need an 'idiots guide'

Aussie_Tips

@Spies it makes sense to me and I'm sure it is possible ..... isn't it 🤔. How do we get the momentum behind it? 

ComicGeek

At the moment there are very attractive tariffs available for those with money, ie those who can afford to buy an electric car and also buy a PV and battery system. It's the same with most things - those who can move quickly get the best deals, and it's a similar situation at the moment as at the peak of the PV feed it tariff.

We've done this, and can virtually run our whole house off the battery. Our large 16 kWh system is largely charged from excess generation from our 10 year old PV system, and we then top it up each night during our very low off peak rate while charging the EV. The very low tariffs may not continue for long, but I'm confident that I can keep them low enough for the battery to have a payback of less than 4 years.

After that, who knows - but I think there will still be good tariffs available for those systems agile enough to take advantage of them until a lot more homes have smart meters. Personally I'm quite happy that the roll out is so poorly managed, it gives me access to cheaper electricity for longer!

Aussie_Tips

@Bendy_House yes it is my blog 😁, however I can't take credit for the idea a couple of years ago and as it's been proposed previously, I suppose my idea is as a result of the same thinking done by those who've come before me. 

No doubt in 10 years time some smart millennial will be proposing something similar when this concept is again out on the "good idea, but too hard to implement" shelf

ODEN33

Not a bad idea, It is 8.30am and im sitting in the sun. We need solar badly and just trap as much energy as we can from God given sunlight. Im getting a DIY system soon.

Section62

PGammage said:

@Section62 you are correct in everything you say, however does that make the implementation today a non-starter? 

I think with some tweaking this approach can make a difference for those in energy hardship. We just need a few changes to tariffs and VAT.

In my view it doesn't make sense until the economics change, and there is some more stability/certainty in the industry.  PV/battery, yes.  Pure battery, No.  The model you are talking about involves a payback time of several years, and there simply isn't enough certainty to make the investment worthwhile. (compare/contrast with the rush to diesel cars)

'Energy hardship' won't be solved by giving people free batteries.  Not least because the cost of giving people free batteries (as with many of the other energy efficiency initiative) will be hidden away in increased energy costs for all, including those already in hardship (or soon to be).

I've used Economy7 electric for 40+ years and made it pay (without using storage heaters).  There are changes people could make to reduce their energy costs - such as running the dishwasher in off-peak hours - but they don't because they want the convenience of the dishwasher running when they want it to run.  Storage is a relatively expensive way to achieve this same time-shifting effect - it will work for some, but isn't a panacea.

PGammage said:

@Spies it makes sense to me and I'm sure it is possible ..... isn't it 🤔. How do we get the momentum behind it? 

There are people already working behind the scenes on this. In my own area of interest (transport) we've been talking about a switch to EV's for decades. The change will happen when the economics are right, not before.  So figure out a way to increase efficiency and decrease costs and you'll be onto a winner.

MWT

PGammage said:

@Bendy_House yes it is my blog 😁, however I can't take credit for the idea a couple of years ago and as it's been proposed previously, I suppose my idea is as a result of the same thinking done by those who've come before me.

This does come up as an idea from time to time, but there are still some pieces missing to make this viable, one of which is shifting the settlement system for energy fully onto a half-hour basis.

If you could implement what you propose right now you would kill the availability of any tariff that would give you enough of a differential between day/night rates as the supplier would lose money badly due to the current settlement methods...

Also you would need energy to be available in volume at a low enough price to support a 25% price point overnight and that just isn't there either which is why you are seeing an erosion of the day/night gap on most of the E7 tariffs.

Bendy_House

PGammage said:

@Section62 you are correct in everything you say, however does that make the implementation today a non-starter? 

Right today, just by adding a battery? Almost certainly yes - a personal financial non-starter.

It was very likely a goer in the house we'd looked at, for the simple reason that the only alternative was oil (or LPG). The 'sums' were tricky to work out, and information requested not very forth-coming, but the best very-guestimated conclusion I could come to was that, with proper use of the PV panels - ie max use during the day when they were producing - the cost would have comparable to oil.

If that was actually the case, then that would have been a complete goer for me, as it's FAR better and nicer and cleaner and less hassle and everything. And, oil prices are very unreliable.

Like PV systems, incentives will likely be required to boost battery use. And fair enough.