On-grid domestic battery storage

Martyn1981 · 18 December 2016 at 4:25PM

Demand side virtual power station and storage:

World’s Largest Virtual Power Plant Trial A Big Hit With SA Consumers

AGL Energy’s delivery of what would be the world’s largest virtual power plant – in South Australia – looks set to come in “well ahead of schedule,” after the utility announced on Thursday that it had already sold out its first round of 150 connected battery storage systems, with 350 second-phase battery systems now up for grabs.

AGL first announced plans to develop the ambitious VPP project in August – a centrally controlled network of 1,000 residential and business battery storage systems with a combined total of 7MWh capacity that would both store rooftop solar power and help manage grid stability in the state.

The 350 batteries on offer in the second phase of the trial will be available to AGL customers who live in Metropolitan Adelaide and meet the eligibility criteria, AGL said.

These customers will be able to purchase the Sunverge 11.6kWh battery at $3,849, which includes hardware, software and monitoring services and installation. This battery also includes 50 per cent more capacity than the first offer battery – customers who purchased a battery in the first round will be able to upgrade to the 11.6kWh unit at no extra cost.

Assuming that's A$3,849, then that's a 11.6kWh batt installed for £2,250. :cool: I'd have one.

Even at $3,849 it's still 'only' £3,079, so quite a lot cheaper than the Tesla PWII.

Certainly shows what is possible if all parties that benefit share the costs.

Exiled_Tyke · 19 December 2016 at 9:10AM

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Demand side virtual power station and storage:

World’s Largest Virtual Power Plant Trial A Big Hit With SA Consumers

Assuming that's A$3,849, then that's a 11.6kWh batt installed for £2,250. :cool: I'd have one.

Even at $3,849 it's still 'only' £3,079, so quite a lot cheaper than the Tesla PWII.

Certainly shows what is possible if all parties that benefit share the costs.

Progress is finally made. Martyn finally finds a deal acceptable to his wallet! Now let's hope it's not too much longer for similar pricing to reach our shores.

Martyn1981 · 23 December 2016 at 5:14PM

Nice surprise. On Thursday the weather was nice and my FF and family went out. Generation was 4kWh, and the monitoring software suggests ~3.5kWh was diverted into the batts.

Pretty good going for the time of year, and shows how the system works and can save on import.

@ET

Yep, count me in, and it is Aussie dollars so £2.2k for 12kWh. Fingers crossed one of the DNO's for a PV'er on here decides on a trial. I'd probably get excluded as I'd get overexcited and annoy them!

Martyn1981 · 24 December 2016 at 4:57PM

Just back from a Xmas visit to some friends, and have to share an idea that was suggested. My mate is a builder, but one of those folk who can see round a problem, or view it from all angles.

He asked me jokingly when I was going to get a battery, and later on asked why the Severn Barrage isn't happening. He then put the two ideas together and said, 'perhaps in the future we'll all have batteries in Cardiff and then charge them off the tidal lagoon?'.

Well .... my head nearly exploded. Is that a perfect solution or not, my mind can't cope.

Here's the reasoning.
You know when it's going to generate (almost irrelevant) and that it will be twice per day. So intermittent, but predictable.
As it's twice a day, you can half the battery size.
The battery cost could be heavily subsidised (shared) by Western Power Distribution (the DNO) as this would eliminate all peak loads and save them money.
So the household chips in £x and gets a batt that charges up say 5kWh (x2) per day at a low leccy price, then you pay the normal rate for any extra. A bit like E7, perhaps E4by2 (well he is a builder!)

If the cheap leccy was say 5p less, then that could save you £180pa at 10kWh per day.

Sorry for the waffle, but the idea interested me. I'm trying to think of another form of RE that would really benefit from such a partnership? :think:

tunnel · 25 December 2016 at 12:12PM

Martyn1981 wrote: »

He asked me jokingly when I was going to get a battery, and later on asked why the Severn Barrage isn't happening. He then put the two ideas together and said, 'perhaps in the future we'll all have batteries in Cardiff and then charge them off the tidal lagoon?'.

Well .... my head nearly exploded. Is that a perfect solution or not, my mind can't cope.

Here's the reasoning.
You know when it's going to generate (almost irrelevant) and that it will be twice per day. So intermittent, but predictable.
As it's twice a day, you can half the battery size.
The battery cost could be heavily subsidised (shared) by Western Power Distribution (the DNO) as this would eliminate all peak loads and save them money.
So the household chips in £x and gets a batt that charges up say 5kWh (x2) per day at a low leccy price, then you pay the normal rate for any extra. A bit like E7, perhaps E4by2 (well he is a builder!)

If the cheap leccy was say 5p less, then that could save you £180pa at 10kWh per day.

Oh dear Mart,
I don't live anywhere near Kardiff and wouldn't be able to access such a scheme, so anyone no-where near would be subsidising those that are.......Monbiot part 2?

Martyn1981 · 25 December 2016 at 6:45PM

tunnel wrote: »

Oh dear Mart,
I don't live anywhere near Kardiff and wouldn't be able to access such a scheme, so anyone no-where near would be subsidising those that are.......Monbiot part 2?

Don't worry T, Chuckles the Troll might get upset, but my choice of 'subsidised' is technically wrong, as per my brackets of 'shared'.

What I'm suggesting is that all the beneficiaries share the cost (household, DNO and NG), so no actual subsidies, just a smaller cost for each party, which would hopefully speed up viability.

Let's say 1 in 5 households near the Cardiff lagoon had such a system, then you might knock 20% off the evening peak, reducing it down to daytime levels. I assume that top 20% costs far more than just any 20%, as leccy gets more expensive as you ramp up supply, bringing the less economical generators on line.

If you had a number of these schemes dotted all over the UK, you could reduce the whole national peak by a few percent, it may only be a few percent but those will be expensive percents...

It's probably just a silly idea, but I was trying to wrap it all into a nice bundle that supports all aspects, so it encourages the rollout of the tidal lagoons, gets storage deployed faster (with shared costs), reduces peak demand/pricing and adds an extra RE technology to the mix, and the more types we have, the less likely we are to be bored by endless cries of 'PV doesn't generate at night' ...... possibly!

Lastly, I appreciate that generation will vary between the extremes (neap to spring tides), but even at the lower end, it would still help.

Martyn1981 · 25 December 2016 at 7:01PM

This video pretty much explains everything about the idea of home batts. It's an Australian video, and therefore the figures are a bit different eg a house getting 97% of its leccy from PV or battery. But all the ideas are there, and some interesting technology, even the Aussie system of buying battery leccy in times of need.

The new home batteries

tunnel · 25 December 2016 at 7:33PM

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Don't worry T, Chuckles the Troll might get upset, but my choice of 'subsidised' is technically wrong, as per my brackets of 'shared'.

What I'm suggesting is that all the beneficiaries share the cost (household, DNO and NG), so no actual subsidies, just a smaller cost for each party, which would hopefully speed up viability.

It was just a bit of Christmas leg pulling but just for fun, maybe our village could tap into the very large wind turbine that's been positioned on the outskirts of the village. No need to worry about peak demand,unless the wind stops blowing then it's down to solar/coal/nuclear....etc etc

Martyn1981 · 25 December 2016 at 7:43PM

tunnel wrote: »

It was just a bit of Christmas leg pulling but just for fun, maybe our village could tap into the very large wind turbine that's been positioned on the outskirts of the village. No need to worry about peak demand,unless the wind stops blowing then it's down to solar/coal/nuclear....etc etc

Was it a turkey leg you were pulling?

Tell you what, when I've signed up, you get a nice big extension lead then pop your plug in my socket.

tunnel · 25 December 2016 at 8:12PM

Martyn1981 wrote: »

then pop your plug in my socket.

Ooooh eeerrr.......I'm lost for words now Mart

On-grid domestic battery storage

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