daimler, vivint solar in exclusive deal on u.s. home batteries - home battery system1
May 18 (Reuters)-
Daimler, the German carmaker, will enter the U. S. market. S.
The two companies said on Thursday that they are selling household batteries through a partnership with residential roof solar installation company Vivint solar Inc.
Vivint's exclusive partnership for the first time in energy storage will enable these companies to work with automakers Tesla Inc. , solar installation company Sunrun Inc. , battery maker LG Chem Ltd. and others
The energy storage market is small, but the market is growing rapidly as lithium costs increase
Ion battery drop
Last year, the industry generated $0. 32 billion in revenue in the United States, but residential systems accounted for only 4% of total revenue.
The home battery system allows customers to store solar energy generated during the day in order to use it after the day, which is when they may charge an electric car.
Ultimately, as utilities start charging higher fees for electricity used at night, batteries can bring significant savings to customers when demand is greatest.
They can also provide backup power.
Daimler will pass its Mercedes-
Last year, the Mercedes-Benz Energy subsidiary brought its ambitious car brand to the domestic energy market, just like Tesla and Powerwall batteries.
Head of Mercedes
Boris von Borman of Mercedes-Benz Energy America says entering the home storage market is a natural development for luxury car brands.
"In the future, when someone walks into a dealer and they want to buy an electric car, they ask for several solutions and storage will be one of them," he said in an interview . ".
David Bywater, chief executive officer of Vivint, said solar customers are increasingly demanding energy "ecosystems" including home energy management, storage and electric vehicle charging. Mercedes-
"Over time, Mercedes will help us with home storage and electric vehicle charging stations," said Bywater . ".
The energy storage system will consist of two.
The modular battery at 5 KW hours can be combined to create a system at 20 KW hours.
The biggest scale will cost about $13,000, Bywater said.
In contrast, according to pricing information on Tesla's website, Tesla's Powerwall at 14 KW hours costs $6,200, excluding installation costs of up to $2,000.
These systems are available immediately, and Vivint plans to sell them online and through its main channelsto-
Door-to-door sales operations. (
Nicola Groom reports;
Editor David Gregory)