Environment

Mercedes energy storage units headed for UK homes

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Putting a Mercedes in the garage has never been cheaper
The scalable Mercedes-Benz battery 
The Mercedes-Benz battery is scalable up to 20 kWh
Mercedes has styled the battery in accordance with its range of cars
The Mercedes battery can be wall-mounted 
The smallest 2.5 kWh Mercedes battery
Putting a Mercedes in the garage has never been cheaper
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Car manufacturers are racing to get their electric cars onto the market, but that's not the only battery-powered battle being played out: they're also keen to get their batteries into family homes. Tesla has made its Powerwall plans clear, and Mercedes-Benz Energy has been talking a big game with its energy storage systems, which will soon be finding their way into homes in the UK.

Although they'll be slotting into homes, the Mercedes-Benz batteries have their roots in the automotive world. Developed by ACCUmotive, the Daimler subsidiary responsible for the batteries in production Mercedes hybrids, the lithium-ion cells can be used to store energy generated by home solar systems or wind turbines.

Each battery pack can store 2.5 kWh, and the modular nature of the system means up to eight can be combined for a total capacity of 20 kWh. Each individual unit is a compact block, and the batteries can be integrated and wall-mounted in one neat unit for a clean look. That's a different approach to the Tesla Powerwall, which comes in 7.5 kWh and 10 kWh capacities, and can be scaled to 58 kWh using multiple units.

According to Mercedes-Benz, installing a home battery pack can boost self-consumption of generated energy by up to 65 percent, and being able to store energy generated with personal solar panels does make them a more attractive option. Rather than feeding excess energy back into the grid, the batteries are able to store it, allowing home owners to use it themselves during expensive peak-rate times.

"There is tremendous interest in our energy storage units and we have already received numerous orders," says Harald Kröger, Head of Development Electrics/Electronics at Mercedes-Benz. "Over the coming months, we will continue to step up and expand sales both in Germany and on the international market." That includes plans to have the batteries available in the US this year.

Mercedes-Benz Energy says the components in its system will vary for each individual home, but most will likely include a solar system, a battery inverter, an energy-management system and (of course) the batteries themselves. Buyers will also need to pay for installation. Pricing will vary, but reports suggest a standard home system will cost around US$10,000, including installation.

Source: Daimler

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4 comments
IanHowat
Mmmm,not a well directed press release! There is no peak rate in UK homes, and at £8000 for 2.5 KW you would take 15 years minimum to pay back .
StevenRo1
Now all we need is a smart grid. Incentive-ize the installation and use of these systems and integrate them such that we can shut down peaking plants and route excess renewable energy to home storage. Increase renewable supply and shut down fossil fuel plants. War on coal? YOU BET! But after all, coal has been fighting the war and killing thousands of us in the process. Isn't it fair to fight back?
ljaques
<sigh> Typical Daimler overpricing. Two 14kW Powerwall bricks plus the hardware is marginally more than a single 2.5kW Mercenary Bends brick. $11,700 vs $10k for MBE brick. MBE bricks are just 900% overpriced. <giggle> But the reason for backup power in the first place is to ensure that you always have electricity. My power went out during a storm last month and I immediately got out the propane stove to make coffee after turning on the 12v emergency ceiling light (18w LED) to see by. Power returned 4 hours later, but I was fed and coffeed during the outage, and had light to read and prepare meals by until the sun came up. I'm hoping the Powerwall price comes way down when the Gigafactory goes into full production.
UvieUgono
I believe the last paragraph explains what the $10,000 price is for - its for a complete Solar Home System, and not just a 2.5kWh battery. The current market cost for a lithium ion battery is approximately $250 per kWh, and on that basis, the battery cost is in the region of $625 per unit.
However, we don't know whether, like the Tesla Powerwall, the battery unit will also include an Inverter. The answer is most likely not, in which case, it will have to be bought separately.
Also, we don't know how many batteries are assumed to be stacked together in this example to come up to the $10,000 price, so it's impossible to comment on whether it's cost effective or not.
More information is certainly needed.