Profitability of Residential Battery Energy Storage Combined with Solar Photovoltaics

Christoph Goebel, Vicky Cheng and Hans-Arno Jacobsen
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Christoph Goebel: Chair of Business Information Systems, Technical University of Munich, Boltzmannstr. 3, 85748 Garching, Germany
Vicky Cheng: Munich School of Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Lichtenbergstr. 4a, 85748 Garching, Germany
Hans-Arno Jacobsen: Chair of Business Information Systems, Technical University of Munich, Boltzmannstr. 3, 85748 Garching, Germany

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: Lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries are increasingly being considered as bulk energy storage in grid applications. One such application is residential energy storage combined with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to enable higher self-consumption rates, which has become financially more attractive recently due to decreasing feed-in subsidies. Although residential energy storage solutions are commercially mature, it remains unclear which system configurations and circumstances, including aggregator-based applications such as the provision of ancillary services, lead to profitable consumer investments. Therefore, we conduct an extensive simulation study that is able to jointly capture these aspects. Our results show that, at current battery module prices, even optimal system configurations still do not lead to profitable investments into Li-Ion batteries if they are merely used as a buffer for solar energy. The first settings in which they will become profitable, as prices are further declining, will be larger households at locations with higher average levels of solar irradiance. If the batteries can be remote-controlled by an aggregator to provide overnight negative reserve, their profitability increases significantly.

Keywords: lithium-ion batteries; solar photovoltaics; ancillary services; economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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