Knowledge : Energy Storage
How to grasp the opportunities that beckon in residential-scale energy storage
In December 2007 a friend and I created a solar PV installation business . I think we were about the 12th company in the UK to become MCS registered . Pretty much everyone thought we were insane . “ Solar won ’ t work in the UK ”… “ Solar panels are way too expensive ”… “ The payback is over 20 years , who is going to buy them ?”… These were just some of the comments . This was , of course , over two years before Feed-in Tariffs came along . I bet those of you that have been in the industry as long have heard similar comments . Now replace the word solar with ‘ energy storage ’ in those comments . Probably echoes what you ’ ve heard , and maybe what you actually think to yourself ? The thing is , less than nine years later , for all the trials and tribulations we ’ ve suffered in the industry , we ’ re not far off having a million domestic PV installations in the country . Although energy storage is more complex than solar , and not a direct analogy , there are sufficient similarities to learn from . When we started , it was a nightmare to buy product at all , and when we did , solar panels were still nearly £ 3 per watt . And no FiT . The bottom line is that energy storage is a huge opportunity for solar installers . Is it an instant fix ? No . Is it going to be a mass market in the next 18 months ? No , probably not . It is , though , a market , and a growing market , and one that in two years will be becoming a mass market . You could , of course , wait until then , or you can get in the game now , and put yourself ahead of the pack . I work with or speak to nearly every storage manufacturer with product available in the UK : Sonnen , Tesla , LG Chem , SOLARWATT , Powervault , Growatt and Moixa , among others . They are all keen
David Hunt — getting involved is the key
to build a network of qualified , committed , professional and ethical installers , and are already doing so .
Early adopters Perhaps surprisingly , given the hype , it is Sonnen that has the largest market share globally , ahead of Tesla , and the German company is very active in the UK . I discussed the stand-out statistics from the EuPD report with Sonnen UK Country Director Martin Allman . “ No one is really tapping into the market for retrofitting storage on existing PV systems . This should be the lowest hanging fruit , particularly with the early PV adopters ( pre March 2012 ) on the highest FiT rates ,” he said . Martin is another with early UK solar experience . Selling energy storage solutions in the present market is very much like those early PV days , and not very much at all like selling PV in the Feed-in Tariff years , and that is where most installers need to adapt their thinking in order to succeed in the present market .
German market researcher EuPD interviewed 1,000 British homeowners about energy consumption and photovoltaics . Respondents who were interested in PV or even PV owners — who make up over a third of the sample — were asked if they knew that PV storage solutions are being offered . Seventy per cent of them answered “ no ”. The research also suggested that only 50 per cent of homeowners who already had solar PV installed were aware of energy storage solutions .
Martin continued : “ We are in an early adopter market and installers need to tap into the buying motivations of these early adopters . It is difficult to try to quickly convince the majority of consumers of a new and innovative idea ; it is better to start first with convincing the innovators and the early adopters . Who are the energy storage early adopters ? These are popular , educated people – with money to invest . Often they are opinion leaders in their communities ; they are more risk-oriented than most , and want to try new ideas and do things differently – but in a careful way .” The problem is that installers have all become used to selling on return in investment , and right now in energy storage that ’ s a difficult proposition . With battery prices plummeting that won ’ t always be the case , but for now buyers have different motivations , and that ’ s what installers need to think about . It also leaves room for installers to make some margin , which is essential when volumes are low .
Manufacturer support The EuPD survey results do suggest that people either aren ’ t engaged with the concept of energy storage , or just haven ’ t found a brand or product they are comfortable with yet . As I know manufacturers and distributors that run energy storage seminars are oversubscribed , the latter must be true . Before engaging with manufacturers though , it is important to accept that this is not at present a mass market . No manufacturer , even Tesla , can promise or offer an instant deluge of customers with cheque books open . They can , and do , like most installers , offer a package of support , both commercial and technical , to help you enter and succeed in the business . One company quietly enjoying much success and growing its UK energy storage team is Growatt . I spoke with UK General Manager Scott Feng . Growatt are developing animations and marketing tools to help installers , but are very much focused on providing advanced training and instant , local technical support . Scott
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