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I want to get rooftop solar and a battery pack for my house. But I really don't want to a lithium battery attached to my house. I feel like there'd be a good bu
by gonzo41 6y ago
I want to get rooftop solar and a battery pack for my house. But I really don't want to a lithium battery attached to my house. I feel like there'd be a good business in selling battery 'space' in a big fire proof box down the street that I could then offset my meter against.
Wouldn't even need to be in my street if I could get the offset.
- epistasis 6y agoI get where you are coming from, but my car is already a ~50 kWh lithium ion battery in my garage, so I'm already living with that fire risk. I just wish I could use my car to power my house when there's a power outage, it's a big enough battery to last for a couple days even when it's at half charge.
- bob1029 6y agoWhy does it have to be lithium technology? The reason electric cars use it is because of energy density (weight savings). For home use, weight is completely irrelevant. You could use much safer lead acid batteries (sealed/AGM) and rig your own inverter setup. This is also a lot easier to maintain over time, as you can scale up/down and swap individual batteries as required.
- epistasis 6y agoCertainly doesn't have to be lithium. But for frequent cycling, lead acid is more expensive. Lead acid also requires occasional maintenance to keep the acid levels topped up. But if you want to rig you leave own setup with lithium ion, scaling up and down with smallish individual battery units over time, those are available for sale. The list prices I've seen are pretty high, about $700/kWh, however. An integrated unit can be cheaper. And as lithium ion battery prices plummet over the next two years, and factories scale, the home storage market will hopefully start to get access to $300/kWh products or cheaper.