Article URL: https://www.regen.co.uk/insights/plug-in-solar-is-coming-plug-in-batteries-should-follow Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49140633 Points: 82 # Comme…

https://regen-55407a.webflow.io/insights/plug-in-solar-is-coming-plug-in-batteries-should-follow Plug-in batteries could significantly reduce household electricity bills, particularly for renters, flat dwellers and low-income households, who are largely excluded from installing traditional home battery systems today. The government has already announced regulation changes to make plug-in solar panels available as part of its response to the rise in energy costs caused by the US war with Iran. In this blog, Regen argues they should go one step further and make standalone plug-in batteries available too. Rooftop solar and home battery systems are a well-established pillar of the government’s net zero and energy security strategy. But to date, systems that can be plugged into a regular wall socket have not been legal in Great Britain. This is in stark contrast to mainland Europe, where plug-in systems are commonplace and can be bought off the shelf from Ikea or Lidl. Plug-in solar has been available for almost a decade in Germany, where there are now more than a million systems in place. In March this year, the UK government announced regulation changes to make plug-in solar panels available ‘within months’, as part of its response to the rise in energy costs caused by the US war in Iran. However, the announcement was noticeably quiet on plug-in batteries. A plug-in battery is a portable energy storage unit that can be plugged into a standard wall socket without any modification to the household wiring. It charges by drawing electricity through the socket – typically during the off-peak period of a time-of-use tariff – and discharges back through the same socket to offset household demand at times when electricity is more expensive. Unlike traditional domestic battery systems, which must be hardwired into the home’s electrical system by a qualified electrician, plug-in batteries can be bought off the shelf and plugged into a wall socket like any other household appliance. This removes the need for professional installation and significantly reduces the cost compared to a traditional system. Typically around £1,000 to 1,500 of the total cost of a professionally installed home battery is for installation. This cost component doesn’t scale directly with storage capacity, so small systems have a very high cost per kWh. Conversely, unit costs of plug-in systems are very low. A battery paired with a time-of-use tariff lets households charge when electricity is cheap and discharge when it is expensive. The household saves money overall when the bill reduction over the battery’s lifetime exceeds its upfront cost.