EnergySage today released its 13th Solar Marketplace Intel Report, which provides pricing, equipment and consumer preference trends within the U.S. residential solar and storage industries. Among the many finds, one significant trend shows that energy storage pricing is increasing while solar system costs continue to decline.
Enphase Ensemble battery system
Quoted solar prices on EnergySage have dropped over 6% year-over-year, while quoted prices for storage are on the rise. The median storage price on EnergySage increased 10% on a cost per kilowatt-hour basis from Q3 2020 to Q2 2021.
With the release of Enphase’s AC battery, the energy company has overtaken both LG and Tesla as the most frequently quoted battery brand on EnergySage. Together, these three brands account for over 85% of storage quotes on EnergySage over the last year. Additionally, two newer entrants to the battery market, Q CELLS and NeoVolta, surpassed Tesla as the least expensive battery brands offered on the Marketplace.
“The consumer demand we’re seeing for energy storage on our platform is remarkable,” said EnergySage CEO and founder Vikram Aggarwal. “It’s a rapidly evolving industry. Between supply constraints and shortages, and a growing number of players entering the market, there’s bound to be a lot of movement at the top and with respect to price. The activity on our Marketplace is an excellent source for anyone looking to benchmark this dynamic and fast-growing industry.”
The report is an analysis of solar and battery quotes submitted to homeowners shopping on EnergySage.com by solar companies in 37 states and Washington, D.C., from July 2020 through June 2021. The latest Solar Marketplace Intel Report can be downloaded for free in its entirety at energysage.com/data.
A lot of the “change” over the years is that the market for energy storage is ahead of the curve. As utilities bring out ‘new’ rate spiking programs and rate control schemes like curtailing solar PV or wind generation while filling in grid load demands with more expensive fueled generation in the capacity market at spot market pricing. The cries of good lord, how expensive Sonnen ecolinx has been for at least the last five years doesn’t tell the whole story. Sonnen out of Germany and now owned by Shell Oil has been able to talk to smart homes over an add on link that talks to smart appliances and can be programmed to schedule when appliances are needed. The system is around $30K and up to around $50K installed. What you get is a smart system with onboard proven algorithms and programming under timers capabilities to control your energy needs and when the utility invokes a TOU period you can supplement the home with stored solar PV and avoid the TOU rate spiking costs. One can also use the smart ESS as an arbitrage device by charging the battery pack in off peak energy times of from around 11PM to 5AM each day. As for battery pack costs, BYD is claiming for their LFP blade battery packs used in vehicles, the cost is about $87/kWh. Batteries are going down and energy storage is leaning towards Micro-grid functionality, which will cost more up front for the electronics and control intelligence in one package.