The system will include Kyocera’s solar energy equipment, including solar panels, inverter and software to monitor and manage energy use, with lithium-ion storage and inverter from Nichicon Corp. The battery storage, at 7.1 kilowatt hours and weighing about 200 kilograms, will feature lithium-ion cells from Samsung. 

Kyocera said it has developed hardware and software to control the charge and discharge of solar electricity and manage that supply and demand for both feeding the solar electricity into the home or the grid.

Kyocera and Nichicon said they are rolling out this new system because of demand for residential backup power supply following the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster nearly a year ago. That disaster also has prompted the Japanese government to promote more renewable energy generation. Last August, it approved a plan to introduce feed-in tariffs for various types of renewable power, though it didn’t plan on deciding what the tariffs will be until this year.

The idea of pairing solar panels – or any source of clean energy – with energy storage for residential use is intriguing because it will help homeowners (or companies that own the systems and collect monthly fees from homeowners) to bank solar electricity and tailor its use. For example, the solar energy can be collected when there is no one at home and released from storage when folks return home from work and start using all sorts of appliances.

And, of course, the battery pack can provide backup power should there be a power outage.

While home energy storage sounds like a good idea, especially when pairing solar and storage, analysts don’t expect it to become widely adopted soon, at least not in the United States. Lithium-ion batteries remain expensive. So without government incentives, residential energy storage isn’t likely to take off quickly.

Could the idea take off sooner in Japan? It’s unclear, though of course Kyocera and other Japanese companies think there is enough market interest to launch products. Japan historically has been ahead of many countries in adopting solar and other clean energy technologies, so it could very well be a test bed for solar-cum-storage pairing.

SOME COMMENTS:

...The size of storage is obviously flexible. 7.1 kWh might seem small but keep in mind that Japanese are not profligate energy users like Americans (Japanese residential use is less than half per capita) and that the batteries only need to store the difference between solar generation and demand, not the whole sum.

...I often use less than 210 KWR a month (total consumption apart from what my 6KW solar array produces). That is less than 7 KWH per 24 hour period.

Before my 6KW system was installed I sometimes had a monthly usage as low as 80 KWH (or about 2.6 KWH per 24 hour period). And that is without 'going without' or using any kind of gasoline or diesel generator. I do, however, have several small solar charged lead-acid battery systems (and I heat my house and hot water using a Taylor waterstove).

...Our cottage gets by on only 0.9 kWh storage but then we get away to get away. We have relatives down the lake who live there year round and make out just fine on 6 kWh and have everything including microwave, washing machine, sewing machine, big screen TV, etc. Their solar panels are rated at only 1600 Wp (plan to do a load of laundry during a sunny day) with cogeneration when the gas water pump is running.

...I have batteries charged by my solar panels and if the grid voltage drops to zero the battery inverter is automatically (and instantly) connected to the house power circuit and isolated from the grid. So I can certainly use batteries during a blackout. I couldn't use batteries during a high tariff period without disconnecting the house circuit from the grid. Perhaps where you live the regulations are different.

...local laws will develop over time, and so here in Calif. it's actually required for home/business solar PV installations to "island" when a defect or grid outage occurs. If the system has storage, its inverter can then keep the building alive, while disconnected from the utility wires..

 

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