Home batteries are cheaper than ever
Home batteries have never been cheap, with most costing thousands (if not tens of thousands) of dollars. Only one recent report from EnergySage It appears that battery prices have reached a record low
EnergySage used quotes customers received through its website from January to June 2024 to track the prices consumers paid for home batteries and solar panel systems.
Quoted battery prices have dropped to $1,133 per kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy storage capacity – a 16% drop from last year. Lower battery costs are the result of streamlined manufacturing processes, especially in China, and declining material costs. According to Chinese researchers, 70% of the world’s lithium-ion cell production takes place in China IDTechEX.
As prices have fallen, consumer interest in home battery products has increased. However, most people still prefer to purchase a battery with a solar panel system. According to the EnergySage report, 34% of U.S. customers who purchased a solar system chose to use a battery in the first half of 2024, a trend that is expected to continue to rise.
Which home batteries are the most popular?
In terms of popularity, Tesla and Enphase remain the top-ranked battery brands on EnergySage, with a combined more than 75% of the market share. Tesla saw an 11% growth in overall market share over the past six months, likely due to the recent launch of the Tesla Powerwall 3, which more than doubles the power of the previous model.
Tesla’s Powerwall 3 is also incredibly cheap by home battery standards. EnergySage says the current cost of the Powerwall 3 is $1,000 per kWh of storage. The Powerwall 3 has an energy storage capacity of 13.5 kWh; that’s about $13,500. But this does not include the cost of installing the battery. We were quoted $16,551 for the cost of installing one Powerwall 3 in a home in Fort Mill, South Carolina, through Tesla’s website. The estimate includes the cost of the battery, gateway device, accessories, installation and taxes.
Tesla and Enphase aren’t the only battery brands fighting for space in the market. FranklinWH, SolarEdge, EG4 and SunPower are starting to take over the rest of the market. However, SunPower has discontinued its energy storage product and recently filed for bankruptcy.
Interested in home batteries
According to EnergySage, consumer interest in home batteries has more than tripled year-over-year. This is especially evident in California, where the number of connected batteries and solar panels has skyrocketed since net billing changes in April. The seizure rate outside California also saw a 22% increase, especially in states that do not have consumer-friendly net metering policies, such as Tennessee and Georgia. This makes retaining your excess energy more valuable than selling it to the utility company.
You might assume that the main reason for buying a home battery is for backup power during power outages. But EnergySage saw 33% of consumers citing energy bill savings as a top concern with home battery products, followed by 28% citing backup power and 29% self-sufficiency.
Home batteries can really help you if your utility company charges time-of-use rates, which are rates that change throughout the day as electricity demand rises and falls. In most cases, these rates become much higher during the early mornings and evenings, when everyone is home and using energy. These are called peak hours.
If you have a home battery, you can use the stored energy to power your home during peak hours and then recharge the battery once rates return to normal.
