Capacity sharing — Economic analysis of home battery systems

Abstract

This paper deals with home batteries and their economic viability under a service in which a prosumer possessing a roof-top PV system can purchase a battery system with the special price from an electricity provider and obtains annual fees for assumed time period. It is done in exchange for sharing some part of battery capacity with the entity. The aim of this study is to check whether it is economically viable from a prosumer perspective, basing on a service offered by one of the EU electricity providers. Authors do that by comparison of computed economic indicators in several prosumer system scenarios and by applying various commercially available solar home battery systems. Additionally, identification of selected conditions that should be satisfied to ensure the financial return from the investment in battery storage is provided. Apart from LCOE, relative annual cash flow is used as the economic indicator of financial outcome. The obtained results as well as conclusions pose the basis for further researches on development of economic models of dispersed home battery systems coupled with small renewable energy sources.